ghosts in her heart
by bombsareforbabies
Summary: Sakura pokes his head with her index and middle finger. "Do not be foolish, otouto." (Sakura is the reincarnation of a future that she cannot let happen, and a man who is still alive.) GEN. Sakura-centric COMPLETE
1. A Rerun of Failures

_The first thing she dreams is sadness and disappointment and love. Then disappearing in light as her only family goes to destroy her village. She cannot bring herself to blame him._

 _The second thing she dreams is death. Her lungs feel like they have been ripped open from the terminal diseases that she had been holding off through sheer willpower. But he had defeated her and hopefully he was strong enough to use her eyes and beat their mad ancestor. It ends with her letting go._

 _The third dream is a blur of blood and tears. Her hands do not shake, although she wishes they would. At least that way she would have proof that she was still human. Her parents are nothing but loving as she runs them through with her blade._

 _The dreams she has always end with a broken voice, and it breaks her heart._

 _"A-aniki?"_


	2. Dichotomy

Sakura loves her parents with a gentle ferocity that is unique to her. The way she tightens her grip on them, as if they might fly away, when she hugs them is wholly her own. Sometimes her parents catch her looking at them with sorrow and relief in equal portions in her expression. It is ragged and warm, like the scent of a loved one that has just come back from war, alive and whole.

She tries to love her parents enough to make up for the sins she commits in her dreams. But then she remembers the look of the black haired boy, and his tears as he screamed at her in betrayal. There are some things that can not ever be forgiven.

.

"I want to be a shinobi, momma."

Most children are still dreaming of heroes in gilded hitai-ate at her age. She has never thought that. The flashes of gore and sadness and sticking a kunai through the throat of a man whose only sin was being the enemy ensure that.

Killing the innocent makes her stomach turn, and she dreams to the soundtrack of death rattles. Yet, something inside of her is telling her to be a ninja, that if she did not she would live with regret whispering into her ear for the rest of her life.

So she asks about the academy.

Her mother turns a strange shade of yellow, and it reminds Sakura of a bruise not yet healed.

The idea of sending her little girl to war must seem unimaginable to her mother. Sakura does not tell her about the dreams where she has been the war, the blade, and the enemy all at once.

Despite her instinctive need to become a child soldier for the village, she wants to experience childhood. It seems like a foreign idea in her head, something that she has only secondhand knowledge about.

There is a dichotomy between those feelings of distance and her distinct memories of being wrapped in blankets and given fluffy pink toys by her parents.


	3. Dango

_"Can you train me, aniki?" There is a black haired boy with eyes that are brighter than any others she has seen. It scares her, knowing that her younger brother will someday shed his innocence._

 _She does not want to teach him the jutsu that he will use for his first kill, but she does not want him to be defenseless. Despite how much she wants to be, she cannot be there for him all of the time._

 _Her fingers poke his forehead, and he is pouting before she can even speak the words. "Forgive me, otouto. Next time."_

 _The next moment she is sitting at a dango stand, eating the sweets off of the stick. Her brother is sitting next to her, anxiously waiting. His legs are swinging back and forth, and his face is the epitome of impatience._

 _She finishes and pays, then sweeps her brother off of his stool and onto her back. He protests that he is too old for piggyback rides, but she can feel the way his arms stay steady, wrapped around her for support. His body is so small and light that she can easily run across the rooftops._

 _They arrive in a clearing in less than five minutes. She tells him to stay a safe distance, though they both know that she is too experienced to accidentally hit him. As soon as he is a good distance away, she takes out her shuriken and flames encase them._


	4. Pink Haired Little Girl

The lines on either cheek make her mother think that she has not had enough sleep. Sakura disagrees, she has been sleeping more than normal; she does not lie to herself and try to deny that it is because of the rare pleasant dreams that have become more common.

She knows they will not last, so she collects them in her mind and stores them away for when sheets of rain come pouring down.

.

Sakura is sitting across from a man with a scowl and a scar on his left cheek. She knows the scar is an illusion, probably one meant to show her just how dangerous the life of a shinobi really is. While she can appreciate the lesson that her mother and her friend are trying to impart, she can not help but glare at him.

"I'm a Chunin, and your mother asked me to go talk to her kid. That's you." He waves in Sakura's general direction. It is a gesture made with no regard for the other party, as if acknowledging her presence is something he is doing to humor her.

She wants to tell him that she could kill him in more than a dozen different ways as she is, without weapons and a small, weak body.

Instead she stays silent. There is an advantage to letting an enemy underestimate her, even if it rakes at her pride. The man in front of her is not her enemy, even if he gives her a twisting feeling in her gut, she reminds herself.

"Ah, thank you Shinobi-san." She is nothing, if not polite.

"The life is hard." The man in front of her, who had not introduced himself and had not bothered to ask about her name, sighs. It is overdone and drawn out for too long. He would never make it undercover. "You can die out there. You ain't gonna be no hero."

"I was aware, but thank you for reminding me, Shinobi-san." As long as she does not die as a hated villain, one who had led an innocent boy to pursue only vengeance and violence, she will be satisfied with however her life ends.

The man in front of her is visibly affronted, and she raises an eyebrow in mock confusion.

He does not like that, and he leans closer to her. His breath smells of booze and smoke; not uncommon coping mechanisms for shinobi who have been through trauma, but Sakura has a feeling that this man knows nothing of war.

"Listen, brat, they are going to eat you alive out there. Konoha has no need for a pink haired _little girl_."

"Noted, Shinobi-san."


	5. Eyes That See

_She is sitting with her legs underneath her. Her meditation is not going well, but is to be expected. Today she is watching her brother; he is so excited about training that she had to find some excuse to see him._

 _Her best friend is with him, trying to show him how to throw a kunai. Her brother is begging him to use his most famous technique. He obliges, and suddenly he is not there. Then he is again._

 _"I'm the quickest in the village. I'm kind of famous for it, so…"_

 _"…Use this eye and save our village. It is my dying wish." There is a cliff and a river and her friend is too close to the edge. She knows that she will not be able to save him, and that even if she did, he would find another way._

 _He is going to kill himself to give her the power she needs and, despite knowing that she would do the same thing, she does not want her power to come from the self sacrifice of her loved ones. Despite the knowledge that she is not fast like him, she still tries to grab his hand as he falls backwards._

 _She does not catch him. And in her hand his eye is held, safe from the warhawk that forever circles above the village._

 _And it is night like always. "…Too weak; I needed to test my capacity, and you are too worthless to bother with." She makes sure her brother forgets her tears. She uses the eyes that her grief awakened to do so._


	6. Dreams are Not Fiction

Sakura had been having the same dreams on loop. There is no waking up until the whole tragedy unfolds. The blood on her hands has been becoming more tangible each time. She wakes up screaming, with metallic scented red covering her trembling arms.

Her mother comes in and comforts her. "Honey, you must have scratched yourself in your sleep. It sounded like a really bad nightmare." Sakura hugs her mother and does not stop shivering. Eventually the hands that rub her back in circles lull her to sleep.

.

"Did you hear? It was horrible." Her mother whispers to her father. They have not heard Sakura creep down the stairs, nor do they sense her just outside of the kitchen. "The whole place was a bloodbath. Just one child was left."

She gasps and her parents hear it. Her mother lightly admonishes her, but does nothing besides tell her not to gossip with the other children. Sakura nods, and leaves the house with stiff limbs and a head full of smog.

Every so often she has to remind herself that dreams do not come true. That becomes her mantra for the rest of the day.

.

The academy is somewhere between huge and tiny. It is familiar. Sakura does not know why; she has never been here before. The bell is about to toll, and her parents wait until the teachers who greet new students arrive before leaving.

"Welcome students." The teacher prattles on about the school and its rules. Sakura has heard this all before, but nothing other than deja vu enters her mind. She ignores it in favor of observing the students around her.

A few are clan heirs; although she does not know much about the various clans in Konoha, their visible traits are all there. She feels as though someone is missing, and cannot help but wonder if that child that was left behind after the slaughter came here, or will.

A few civilian born kids are sticking close to one another, whispering and pointing at her. They might think that they are being quiet, or they may purposely be speaking loud enough for her to hear. Whichever reason, it does not matter, she hears their little insults and bratty behavior that will get them nowhere.

Something inside of her, something in stark white against the black backdrop of her mind, wants to punch them. Another piece of her just wants to get on with the day. They are not worth the effort.

.

A week later Sakura walks into the classroom, just on time, as usual. She sits on a seat closest to the window, and stares at the view of the village. This is the place that she will live to protect.

There is an empty seat next to her; nobody wants to sit with the weird girl with freaky hair. She does not mind much, she has been alone in some fashion or another for most of her life. There is always a wall between her and others, and she suspects it has to do with her jaded outlook on life, or how she will cling to those she trusts like a leech. Too aloof or too affectionate; she sees the irony and does not like it.

Someone opens the door to the class, and she does not look away from her view until she hears her classmates chattering grow louder. Whispers of 'The Uchiha Boy' are what Sakura hears them say. The name tingles at her senses, but she can not tell why. Then she turns towards the front of the classroom and sees him.

There is a dark haired boy, with his face dull and withdrawn and a scowl on his lips. She knows him, even if her memories are only of adoration or hopeless begging, not this anger and jagged sadness; she could recognize him anywhere. The only problem is that they have never met; in fact, up until that moment, he was someone that Sakura was sure was not real.

 _Otouto._


	7. Reality

Sakura is crying, but she does so silently. This was the first time she has seen this boy in real life. She had never thought she would see him while she was awake, but the flesh and blood are right there, in front of the classroom.

The teacher introduces him to the rest of the group as Uchiha Sasuke, at which a few gasp. Then he explains that Sasuke will be joining the class until graduation. Vaguely, Sakura sees her teacher motion in her direction. Her focus is trained on the boy who is moving towards her.

He sits next to her, and she just stares. She thinks that he is so much bigger than her memories of him at this age, but that may be the bitterness he carries. It will fester until it becomes all that he can feel if it is allowed to go on like it did before.

 _(She thinks herself a fool for ever thinking that hatred would be something he could shed after her death. After living like he had, he needed something to blame. And their home just so happened to be it.)  
_  
Sakura almost calls him 'otouto', a name which would no doubt trigger him, open a wound. _(One that she had left.)_ Instead she introduces herself.

"I'm Sakura."

She knows that he will not smile and call her aniki and let her hug him and poke his forehead, but she is still disappointed when all he does is grunt in response.

.

Sakura has not paid much attention to class since the first day she entered the academy. To most, she looks like the most focused and determined to learn out of the class. Her lack of study does nothing to curb her grades, which she scores consistently high in.

Most of the study materials are those that she has already read. _(In her dreams she sits reading those books, all about the past and the present. She is always dreading the future in her past.)_ Those that she has not read only contain information that children of war have to know to survive.

Her nightmares and dreams have meaning now, or at least she hopes that to be true. She does not fully trust them, but they have been useful.

The things that always flitter by in her brain, surrounded by a haze that she can not break through nor burn away, are the ones that she considers the most important. Not because they mean too much in life, but because they would be confirmation that she is not just applying her dreams on reality.

 _('Reality is a matter of perception, of the things that people find right and wrong' It echoes in her head before settling into her mind.)  
_  
She could tell you everything about the people she dreams about, what they were to her, what they look like, and the way their voice lilts when they talk. What the scent of their blood smells like, what their grief looks like.

But she cannot remember their names, cannot look at an engraved name on stone and prove their existence to herself.

.

Sakura is not the person that she was in the dreams. She is wiser than she was before. The mistakes of her past that whirl around her mind every night ensure that she will do all that it takes not to repeat them.

 _(She knows that the road signs she sets up will not be followed by her stubborn brother. The truth is painful, but will ultimately lead to less destruction than a lie held together by regret and a deathwish.)  
_  
How she can tell the child sitting next to her the secrets of his family without getting interrogated or experimented on is something that she has yet to figure out. They hailed her as a prodigy in her dreams, and they would call her one again if it were not for her carefully calculated mistakes, but the situation she is in needs more than a genius to figure out.

The first thing she tries is to build trust. It is harder than she expected. She does not have the unconditional love that the boy in her dreams gave her without question or second thought, and it is hard for her to imagine him looking at her without it. _(Or without hate and fear contorting his face.)  
_  
"Do you want to train?" It feels strange to be the one asking, and not letting her brother down with a gentle poke. She half expects him to smile wide and tumble after her in an attempt to get to the training grounds as soon as possible. Maybe even crawling on her back, because he knows that roof hopping is faster than his fastest sprint.

"No."


	8. bonds made, bonds broken

Time passes quickly and an uneasy tension has permanently settled in Sakura's ribcage. Her mother, despite not approving of her career choice, is a source of unwavering support. It is strange and euphoric to have parents that make her feel warm when she is next to them.

"Sakura, honey, are you okay?" Sakura knows that her mother does not want a generic 'fine'. The woman sitting across from her, fingers tapping an unsteady beat on their kitchen table, wants the truth.

Their eyes meet, but Sakura's skitter away. She is still so used to her eyes merely being a tool with which to kill. Her mother has never asked about it, which Sakura is ever thankful for.

"I… Do not know."

.

Sakura is alone, in the corner of the school grounds. Her back hits the wall, and the stone cools her back.

The only other one alone is a blond boy who is rocking on the old swing that has been there for as long as the school. She wants to go and talk to him, to see if they can form some sort of camaraderie, maybe lessen the ache that she knows they both feel. But she knows that the people in the porcelain masks watch over him. She can not afford to have them watching over her every move.

That does nothing to make her feel less guilty about staying away from the boy.

But she is content, for now, with knowing there are bundles of groceries that appear at the blond's doorstep every week -after being thoroughly checked over by the masked shinobi for poisons. The products never come with a receipt or a single pink hair to leave a trace, and Sakura knows there is no proof of how they got there.

.

The air is crisp, and the people of Konoha are starting to wear their heavier jackets. Sakura has one that is warm, but too bulky for her tastes. Fluid movement is important, and all of her instincts are telling her to abandon the jacket and deal with the mild cold until she can get one that does not inhibit her. Sasuke, on the other hand, does not have much of a jacket on. She can see him shivering a bit, and she has the urge to give him her jacket.

She knows that he will refuse the whole coat, no matter how much she wants to wrap him up in it, but she can still offer him her scarf.

 _("Thanks, aniki!" The black haired boy looks at her and, despite the scarf that is covering most of his head, she can tell he is smiling. She bends down to adjust the cloth, and he gives her a hug. "I lo-")  
_  
"I'm not interested in you." Sasuke is blunt and standoffish. Sakura is a stranger to him, and at this point it may be for the best. If she were not, he would hate her too much to even attempt to listen to her before trying to recklessly attack. The thought is painful, but not a sharp jab. It is the kind of pain that settles into bones and stays there, aching.

"I am merely offering you a scarf." Sakura wishes that were true. Both her and Sasuke know that she is asking for something more. She does not know how to say it, how to offer her friendship like this. Taking him by the shoulders until he is facing her, Sakura wraps the scarf around his head. It had never occurred to her in her dreams how socially inept she could be. He just stares at her for a moment before ripping the scarf off and letting it fall to the ground.

It is times like this that she misses her best friend, with his slightly curling hair and sleight of hand tricks, more than ever. He was always easy to talk with. She wishes that she could go to his grave, but she needs a name. She does not want to go after Sasuke, only to ask after another dead relative.

.

Sakura is reminded time after time of her mistakes, and how badly they have hurt her family. In her dreams she lives the life that she tried and failed to use to its fullest. Awake, she has to sit next to the person for whom she had failed. He means everything to her, and to him she is just another annoying fangirl.

The nth time she asks for his time, a request that he has refused again and again, he looks her dead in the eye. "I need to be more powerful. I am not interested in the school's curriculum." He wants to study the clan jutsus, or at least practice what he had learned before his clan was wiped out. Sakura knows that she could help with that, that she has already mastered and added to the techniques. But that would not be helpful. A civilian girl, newly inducted into the academy, has no right knowing any clan jutsus.

She should know nothing more than what has been taught, but those few things she could use _(and has)_ to defeat shinobi who can crush mountains. Sakura has to stop herself from pointing out that a master with a pebble can beat a novice with a kunai.

.

There are boards with targets outside the academy, and her class is going to use them. A few of the students look scared, but most are practically buzzing with excitement. The instructor looks like he is going to the gallows. Kids with live weapons are terrifying creatures.

Sakura is not worried. She has always been good with kunai and shuriken. Her small body does nothing to distort her aim; there is a whole life in this body, and her mind adjusts the calculations in her head automatically. As the children line up to get their kunai, with instructions to 'Try not to impale each other, please, I am a year away from retirement, have mercy' from their teacher, Sakura makes sure she gets to stand next to Sasuke.

He looks at her and makes a 'hn' noise.

After a demonstration from the instructor, who is uninspired at best, the kids start trying to throw them. The man walks around, adjusting stances and knocking the occasional weapon away from hitting another child. He gets to Sasuke and nods at the boy, who seems to know what he is doing.

Sakura is watching, and notices a few problems with the posture, but she stays quiet. The board in front of Sasuke's has kunai stuck in it -more than most of the class can say- and the weapons are almost hitting the target. She is proud of the boy; he was always a bright child.

"Sakura-san, I believe that we are supposed to be practicing our aim. Not staring at boys." The teacher is looking at her with disapproval written all over his body language. While Sakura can not fault him for scolding her lack of participation, she still feels irritated. That feeling increases other classmates start to laugh at her expense, and even Sasuke smirks.

There is a loud thunk. Most of the kids who were not already watching her turn around and stare in amazement. Her arm is still extended, and the three kunai that she threw simultaneously are all stuck in the bullseye. She is not even looking at where she was throwing, keeping eye contact with the teacher the whole time.

Sakura regrets it as soon as it happens, but still feels satisfied when nobody stops her as she walks off of the school grounds.

.

"How did you learn to do that?"

"Hello to you too, Sasuke-kun." The next day, one which the class has off, Sasuke decides to accost her in the market. She is too glad that she is not the instigator to truly care that the boy is being extremely rude. The bags that she has in her hands are bulky, and she shifts them to get a better look at her companion.

He is unimpressed with her cheek, and asks again. "How did you learn to aim so well? I'm sure you don't have a tutor, and I know that your family has no experience with ninja." Sakura just smiles at him, her head tilting to the side a bit, accentuating her innocent look.

"Train with me?"

"...Fine."

.

Sakura does not have the most conventional methods of handling weapons, but she can use an advanced version of the academy style to teach Sasuke. She knows the way she usually works is too distinctive for her to use in front of his scrutinizing eyes.

He watches as she explains, being careful to show exactly how to hold his hands and flick his wrists. She then demonstrates, the kunai hitting dead center of the crudely drawn target that has been drawn on the tree. Sasuke takes the weapon out of the bark, shifts into position and throws it.

The fact that it hits the target would be good enough for most, as the students have only just started working with the standard shinobi weapons, but Sasuke looks unsatisfied. He tries again and again, with the occasional tip from Sakura that he grudgingly listens to, and eventually he hits on the section just outside of the bullseye.

It is impressive, and Sakura is pleased with how much he can grasp. He, on the other hand, glares at the now pockmarked tree. She half expects him to use his fire jutsu to burn the tree down. But he does not, instead turning to face Sakura.

"I need more training. Tomorrow, after school."

The urge to poke his forehead is overwhelming.

.

Sasuke is gruff and prickly, but Sakura stills loves him with a protective intensity that only she knows and could ever believe.

During their training sessions there are a few close calls, times when she almost loses herself and calls him otouto or tries to help him with a clan jutsu, but the days pass on by without much incident. She is thankful for this.

Sakura is palming some kunai idly, making them slip out of sight and appear in her other hand. She has gotten in the habit of doing this when she is bored or nervous.

Thinking on the circumstance that she is in, something that she has been neglecting, the metal automatically moves through her deft fingers.

That blond boy that always sits on the swing is still alone. She wonders if she is safe talking to him, and if she can do so without arousing the suspicions of the porcelain masks. There is a loneliness about him that she is all too familiar with.

"Where did you learn that?" The voice is cold, colder than it has been in a long while. It interrupts her thoughts, and she looks to the direction of the voice. Sasuke is walking slowly over to Sakura.

He is looking at her as if she is a monster; the glint of betrayal in his eyes is less intense than Sakura sees every night, but it is enough to make her heart break a little. If she looks closely, she can see his fists shaking in both rage and fear.

Something is wrong, and she does not know what, nor how to fix it. She answers his question truthfully.

"A friend."

"Who?" He glares at her. The silence coming from her is enough to set him even more on edge. "Who is it?"

Sakura had been palming the kunai in a way that he remembers all too clearly, and Sasuke wants answers. There are not many ways that an outsider could know the sleight of hand that even a majority of Uchiha did not. One of those ways is dead.

If she knows That M-

"He is gone. He was a good person. I do not think that he is the reason for your…" Sakura tries to find words that fit what she sees before her. The shaking little boy and the seething older one, both equal in Sasuke's stance. "Sadness."

 _(Because I am.)  
_

Sasuke does not come back to their training sessions after that, and pointedly ignores her whenever she draws near.

Sakura wishes that she could talk to him like she used to: easily and warmly.


	9. Last Days of Youth

Sakura does not trust herself after her incident with Sasuke. She does not approach anybody, except for the tentative 'Hello' she does not make an effort to really speak, and she is distant. There is a voice inside of her, telling her to stop being so stupid.

The first time somebody approaches her on their own without the intention of humiliating her over her hair or forehead, she is shocked. For some reason, most of the class is wary or overly aggressive in regards to her. Somebody talking to her without that malice was new, and a bit terrifying.

"Who are you, really?" Ah, a Nara. The kid looks familiar. She does not remember meeting him, but somebody like him.

 _(She walks into the office just as a man is leaving. He is slouched, but purposefully. If it were not for his shinobi uniform and the scars on his face, even she would have thought him a non-threat at first glance. But she has long since learned that the first assessment is the most flawed.)_

They are a smart bunch, even if they are notoriously lazy. They also know when to keep their mouths shut, although that may be because it takes to much effort to report on things that do not have an effect on the village.

While Sakura does not trust him with any details, she knows that keeping everything a secret will only arouse suspicion.

"I only know myself as Haruno Sakura, and I mean no harm to my village and its people."

He raises a brow at her somewhat formal language, but she does not elaborate any further. She has told him the truth. And though it is not the whole truth, it is all anybody needs to know for now.

.

The new instructor comes in, as the last one quit with a steadily receding hairline, and Sakura cannot help but be impressed.

The man, who has a scar across his nose and a dark complexion for this country, looks around the room. She notices his eyes stopping for a second on the noted trouble makers, but the look he sends them is not spiteful. A respectable man who does not single out children for their blood or lack thereof.

He introduces himself as Iruka. He has a way with wayward children, and Sakura suspects that the class is going to need guidance like his.

.

Sakura was panicked when one of her memories looked like it may be diverging from her life so early on; it makes her doubt everything that she thinks she knows. So when Iruka walks in with an injury he can not quite hide from her observant eyes and a slightly less than normal energetic blond trailing after him, a hitai-ate proudly across his forehead, Sakura is relieved.

The teams are picked today, and now she knows that at least one positive influence will be in Sasuke's life, especially since he has been avoiding her like the plague and giving her cold, angry looks when he thinks she can not see. It is disconcerting that he does not want to scowl to her face, as she has learned that he is not one to be subtle with his opinions.

 _("Be nice otouto." The boy pouts and she pokes him, effectively distracting him enough for her to pick him up and go into the compound. "It is rude to call people stupid and ugly." She admonishes him, even if she finds it a little funny. He is still glaring at the girl who had distracted her from him. "I'll always be there for you first.")_

She is listening, but not focusing on Iruka's words, waiting for her name to be said aloud. Then she hears him list the names of the team she is on. "Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your instructor is Hatake Kakashi."

.

Sakura does not see the lazy man with a droopy eye; she does not see the man who fell for one of the simplest and most detectable pranks ever. His silver flyaway hair is one of a kind, and any doubts regarding his place in the Jounin ranks vanish.

 _(There is a weight over her face, and she knows that it is a mask. The man in front of her is giving out orders, his hand signals almost too fast to read. His hair sways in the breeze, and she hopes that it does not give away their position. Not that it would matter anyways, but they both want a quiet kill this mission. It's an anniversary that neither want to remember, and they could do without carnage tonight. She knows that her captain would rather be in front of a stone, begging to no one, trying to atone for his sins. The October wind feels more like winter than fall, as it flows over her skin.)_

He tells them that he hates them, or something along those lines, and then flickers to the roof. Sakura thinks that the man is infuriating already.

.

The man gives more away by what he does not say than by what he does. Usually that would be foolish, because not knowing what you gave the enemy rather than feeding them useless information is a rookie move, but the man thinks he is teaching fresh Genin and therefor has leeway. While he is technically not wrong, Sakura knows that he is not right either.

Naruto is a lover of all ramen, even the downright disgusting favors, and Sakura wonders how anybody can have a metabolism like that. He shows his dislike for Sasuke, which would irritate Sakura more if she thought he actually meant it.

Sasuke, he is the one that worries her. Words of bitterness and revenge pass through his lips, even if they are concealed by his intertwined fingers. When he mentions dislikes there is a glance towards Sakura. She winces, cannot help but do so, and looks away for a moment.

Throughout his speech she just wants to hold him close and take him to the lake so that they can spend the afternoon goofing off. Then, he starts talking about dreams.

"I have an _ambition_. To kill a certain man, and to rebuild the Uchiha." He is right when he says those are not dreams; those are goals whose endings always end up with somebody six feet in the ground, and not always the ones who are being hunted. "I am an _avenger_."

"…No." Sakura feels her heart break with every word he says. She feels guilty and her failures weigh her down for most of her waking life; they stare her down when she is asleep. But she has been trying so damn hard, and not getting anywhere. Her temper is shorter than it was, and her frustration takes form in angry white lines on the dark backdrop of her mind.

She can not let her precious little brother turn into a bitter man. When she gets confused glances and aggravated glares from Naruto and Sasuke respectively, as Kakashi looks bored as ever, she ignores them.

" _We may be killers, but we do not have to be murderers. It is foolish to give up your own hopes and dreams for this. If you want revenge, dig two graves and do_ not _call it avenging the family._ "

She may be harsh, but she does not want to leave him to cry on his own, over the dead body of his big brother. She knows the guilt of killing blood, or those as good as, and she would not wish it on anybody.

There may be tears running down her cheeks, flowing down the lines that seem to adorn her face no matter who she is. It does not matter. Nobody is speaking, and Sasuke looks angry. But he also looks scared, and that is what pushes her over the edge.

"I need some air, if you will excuse me." She does not give a damn that she has just given the worst excuse to ever give when on a roof. She walks swiftly past the group, to the railing, and jumps.

.

Sakura knows that Kakashi will not find her for a while. She sits next to the river, and the rocks that cover the edges of it poke her. It is not comfortable, but this is the closest she has to being able to pay respects to her nameless friend.

The water is reflecting everything, perfectly. Ripples that she makes by sinking her feet into the water distort her mirror, and she swears that she sees herself.

 _(She stares at the mirror, at her pale skin and long hair. The stress of everything that has been happening is showing. She knows what she has to do. The marks under her eyes are looking more and more like sleepless nights and tears.)_

She sees a black smudge in the sky, a blemish in the solid blue sky. It is beautiful, and fast approaching. The crow is soon followed by others and they flock around Sakura, settling around her. She smiles, soft and gentle.

"Hello."

She had been wondering if she would see her flock again.


	10. To Show Love and Get Fear in Return

Kakashi arrives at where she has been resting soon enough, just like Sakura knew he would. He is in the trees, trying to size up the situation that Sakura has created. She is back in control now, or as much as she will ever be, and shows no hesitation when she speaks.

"Hello." Behind her is the rustling of leaves as the leader of Team Seven drops to the ground. Gravel crunches beneath his feet, purposely loud so as not to put her on edge. It is a useless tactic, she already knew he was there before he revealed himself, but she appreciates it.

He walks over and sits beside her, although he chooses to keep his feet from getting wet and rests them on top of the water rather than submerge them. Neither of them talk, and Kakashi reaches into his flak jacket to pick out a vibrantly orange book.

It brings up vague feelings, most of which are irritation in some variant or another.

 _(She hands off the papers to the man. There is not a lot of information in the reports, but she knows that he is a spymaster and can use the sparse details to their fullest. How he has managed to be so successful in his job is a mystery, considering his more than conspicuous appearance and reputation.)_

She pauses for a second, debating on whether to even ask. "Who wrote that book?"

"Jiraiya. Of the sannin." It clicks as soon as he says it. Sakura has another name to put to the faces that she sees in her head, and it leaves her feeling less uneasy than before.

"He has something of a reputation, both inside and out of battle, does he not?" Kakashi makes an affirmative noise, but does not elaborate any further. She can sense the tension between them, and she knows that he can as well.

This is a man who is clever and intelligent enough to put the dots together, although maybe not in the correct order. A blurred picture can be both better and worse for her situation, depending on what conclusions he comes up with.

He looks over at her, and she can feel his eye assess her small body, checking for any identifying factors. The pause on her shoulder is interesting, and she knows what he is checking for. She did have the swirl inked into her skin, although only in her dreams. That does not mean that she can not still feel the weight that the mark leaves on all who bear it.

His assumption, if it is what she thinks it is, would be convenient. There are no ranks once one puts on the white masks, and it would not be inconceivable to have somebody so young amongst them. She was younger before, after all.

It could also backfire badly, and risk her life. The thing is, she stopped caring about that a lifetime time ago. Hopefully, she will be able to water the seedling that is already planted in his head. She fiddles with the sleeve on her shirt, making sure that her shoulder is out of view.

"When do we meet tomorrow, _taichou_?"

.

She goes to the bridge and settles with her legs crossed. It is about ten minutes before that are supposed to meet, and a few hours before Kakashi will arrive. A scroll unfurls, and her fingertips glow as they brush over the ink strokes. Three containers, still as fresh as they were when packed, appear in a puff of smoke. She puts a container on either side of her, and opens the third that she settles on her lap.

Sakura feels his chakra before she can see or hear him. It is not difficult to detect, as he does not hide it. It is especially easy for her to recognize, even if it not as warm as in her dreams. She takes the box next to her, and offers it to him as he passes by. He takes it, hesitant with a suspicious gaze that never leaves her, yet never strays to her face.

His eyes widen, then narrow when he opens the box she has handed to him. Inside is onigiri with a sliced tomato on the side. Sakura is already eating her dango, and pauses with a piece halfway to her mouth. Their eyes meet, which Sasuke visibly recoils at, and he averts his eyes. He tries to move as far away as possible without alerting her that he is doing so.

He is less discreet when, upon looking at the box to her and back again, he pulls his arm back and flings the box as far away as he can.

It smacks into a tree, just inches from the newly arrived Naruto's head.

"HEY, TEME! DON'T THROW SAKURA-CHAN'S BREAKFAST AT ME!"

.

Kakashi, by the time that he arrives, wants to leave as soon as he sees the mess that the three have made.

Sakura is sitting calmly on the bridge with what appear to be several empty sticks next to her and a box of Pocky. Ahead of her, about ten feet away, Sasuke is trying wrestle something away from Naruto. He seems to be concerned for Naruto, which is a good sign, but he is also convinced that whatever is in the container that he is desperate in taking away from the blond will kill them both, which is not a good sign. At all.

He is about to go to them, to help them sort their problem out, when he steps in something that squishes under his sandals. And squirts liquid onto his foot. Upon looking down, he realizes that it is something that might have at one point been rice and a demolished tomato.

Maybe he should fail them on principle alone.

.

"Come at me with the intent to kill." Sakura crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at Kakashi as he says this. He just shrugs, and dismisses the other two when they have the same doubts as she does. The Copy Nin has earned his reputation, and three Genin should pose no threat to him. But she knows that she will not go all out with him.

She does not delude herself into thinking that she can kill him that easily, but she is sure that he can be injured by her.

.

The coast is cleared in record time. The only one left is Kakashi, who is reading a glaringly orange book, and Naruto, who is glaringly orange in general. There are words exchanged, an impressive amount of clones made, and one of Konoha's most forbidden techniques is used. It causes her to wince, because that must hurt like hell.

Sakura watches the spectacle, and has to squash the urge to assist her comrade several times. She needs to see what the others are capable of under stress, and she does not want to stand out any more than she already has. That does not stop her from sending out black birds to make sure her two teammates are okay.

Tree branches do not even rustle as she pounces from one to the other. Hiding the fact that she could do the standard chakra-enhanced leap has not been an option since the day before, when she jumped from the roof.

.

The moment the genjutsu hits her, she knows. It wraps around her, and she lets it. Having Kakashi think that she is out for the count is an advantage, and her awareness of it keeps it from becoming anything more than a nuisance.

If she were not so used to techniques like this, she would stop at the sight of Sasuke bleeding out with a pleading stare in his half dead eyes.

.

A crow caws, directing Sakura to a tree where Naruto hangs, upside down. She cuts him down from the rope around his ankle and grabs his arm. Another bird call pierces the sky and she takes off running, with Naruto close behind her.

"Sakura-chan, how'd you know to find me?"

"The birds do not call without reason." She looks back, and upon seeing his confused face she simplifies it. "You were loud, and that disturbed the birds." This time Naruto nods, seeming to understand her half-truth.

She speeds up when she hears the crow again, and Naruto keeps up with her, even if he is panting a little. The crow knows to only caw twice when an important event occurs. Sasuke's watcher cries a third time, just as they enter the clearing.

His head is on the ground. A gasp is heard from behind Sakura, but she knows that this is a simple jutsu. There is no metallic smell, nor is there a body to match the head. Also, the head is wriggling around and using words that even missing-nin try not to say.

His eyes are focused solely on a black bird that is just visible through the tree line.

Sasuke is so intent on killing the bird with his glare alone that he does notice Sakura until she is squatting beside him. When he does, he flinches hard. It looks as if it is enough to make his neck hurt. He looks at the bird for a second before swiveling his head back to Sakura.

"You."

"Me."

"Did you do that?" He makes a head jabbing motion towards where the crow is still sitting. Sakura twitches her fingers, out of her teammates' views, and the bird understands that it should depart. It leaves with a cry and flies out of view.

"Crows are native to Konoha, Sasuke."

"Hn." She know he is not satisfied with her answer, but he does not pursue the line of questioning any further. He is not one to pull his punches, and the lack of pushing for more worries her.

"…Let me help you out of the ground."

.

The alarm rings, they do not have the bells, and Naruto is tied to a post. Sakura takes out a kunai and is about to cut him down when Sasuke stomps over and does it for her. He glares at her while he does this.

There is a crackle of lightning with some booming thunder and storm clouds, and Kakashi looks pissed. Except he's not, because he gives them a thumbs up and a cheerful 'You Pass!'

Sakura glances at Sasuke who has been acting equal parts scared and bitterly angry at her since they became a team. She tries not to blame herself for being so foolish as to let her protective instincts kick in. Sakura has no right knowing Sasuke's favorite foods, nor be able to follow bird calls.

Being his brother is something that will not get her any closer to him at this point, and she hates it.


	11. Defense, Offense

While Sakura knows that she can deal with these attacks and do so with ease, she does not want to deal with a flurry of shuriken thrown at her when she goes to warm up at four in the morning. Apparently warming up by practicing her jutsu and katas is not going to happen today. It is a good thing that her dreams have ingrained the need to build up her muscle memory and reflexes. Even if she did let them hit they would only leave scratches, as she hopes is the intention, it is instinct that make her throw two kunai in quick succession.

The second hits the first, and they change trajectory just enough for their blades to hit the empty center of the shuriken. The stars are pinned to the ground on either side of her, still spinning wildly. She goes over to each and picks up her weapons, along with the ones that were thrown by her assailant. Each kunai that she threw had hit three shuriken each, all dead center.

Sakura knows where the attacker is not-attempting to hide. She turns and smiles at him.

"Good morning, Kakashi-taichou."

.

"Getting to practice early then, Sakura-chan?" They are sitting by the pole where Naruto was tied up the day before. The sun is just peeking out, into the sky. It is relaxing, but there is also a tension there that needs to be addressed. Both of them know that Sakura is not normal for her age, not even for the prodigies of the Post-Kyuubi generation. She acts like a child of war, one who has seen too much bloodshed and too little light. Her thoughts are more weary, having already seen and abandoned cynicism. "You remind me of myself, when I was younger."

"...I hope that you do not mean that." Sakura knows that this can be misconstrued as an insult, but her tone is fully self-deprecating. She has dreamt of the horrors that she has committed; the horrors and pain that she knows will stain her forever, even if she earns forgiveness. "There is hope for a future in you, mine was sealed the first time I closed my eyes."

Kakashi looks at her, and she can feel his gaze go to her shoulder once again. Her sleeves do not ride up, and he can not get a look at her bare skin there. She knows that he is already curious and that her identity, if one could call it that, is settling into his mind. It is both a false and true assumption.

She is palming her kunai, and she knows that Kakashi will not make anything out of it. The cold slide of metal against her warm skin is soothing, and she needs that for today.

.

The whole team is assembled, after three hours of waiting for Kakashi. He had wandered over to the memorial stone shortly after Sakura's conversation with him, and she knows better than to break his ritual. She still sits by the river sometimes, and she understands how he has never truly stopped mourning. Neither has she. It is the fate of those who truly blame themselves for a loss of life that should not have happened.

Sasuke and Naruto are both looking at their teacher with annoyance, even if the latter is more vocal about it. Kakashi spouts some excuse about 'Hearing a mourning dove's song, and I just had to listen to what it was trying to sing to me'. Sakura has to admit, it is a fairly poetic excuse. Much better than the classic black cat excuse.

"LIAR!" Naruto points at him as he exclaims this.

"Maa, let's just get started."

.

"No killing, but maiming's fine." Kakashi sends the two opponents an eye-smile. Both roll their eyes.

Sakura is at one end of the training ground's clearing with Sasuke at the other. She is in a relaxed, yet balanced position. It is one that exudes confidence and will often anger opponents, who do not know that the smug pose is intended to do so, into making rash decisions.

From her position she can see the slight twitch of Sasuke's hand, right by his weapons pouch. It is an involuntary action on his part, and it is an obvious tell. He is nervous, and he is not liking his chances in the battle.

When he feels as if he has a good chance of winning, which is more often than is safe for one of his profession, his hands are always steady. It had never happened in the academy and, if the look Kakashi has on what is visible of his face says anything, it had not happened the day before either.

Still, it is something that not many others would see. His cocky smirk and confident body language could fool some Chunin.

Kakashi puts away his book, but only after bookmarking it, and says: "Begin."

.

Sasuke throws two kunai at her.

 _She sees a glint. Ninja wire. It connects each kunai to his hands, probably to pull her in. Genjutsu, make him think it hits. Kunai will hit logs instead. He pulls logs to himself, and he will have to dodge or be hit. Use that time to take cover in trees, plan trap._

He dodges with inches between his face and one of the wooden logs. She tricked him, and now she is gone. Not knowing where she is makes Sasuke anxious, and he looks about the tree line, trying to see where Sakura went.

 _Prepare two shuriken. Tie wire connecting them, and throw. Wires aren't connected to her, but to each other. Difficult to use like that, and not taught in academy. He will not expect that. Make sure they end up 'missing' and land near his feet. Distract before he examines too closely._

Out of seemingly nowhere, a pair of shuriken fly at him. He barely dodges, but dodging seems like a victory with how accurate the weapons are thrown. Before he can take another breath, Sakura jumps down from her perch and approaches him.

 _Rush him, use kunai to block. Parry aggressively, so that he is pushed to go around the field. Do not give him room for handsigns. Trip him on the wires from the shuriken that he 'dodged'._

Sakura runs at him, and he tries to slash at her with his weapon. She blocks his blow, but Sasuke is the one who leans back. It goes on like this, as they move with each other across the field and back. It is the same every time, with her battering away his attacks and using the momentum to make him retreat a little each time. He is itching to use ninjutsu, but his hands are occupied.

The prickle of irritation just grows, as he realizes that he has stepped into her trap. She is wearing him out, while also preventing him from using jutsu. It is a sound strategy, but he is left wondering why she is not incapacitating him. He knows she can, as loathe as he is to admit it, and she did not hesitate when throwing the shuriken at him. It doesn't make sense. Why is she not fighting?!

"Fight, dammit, f-!" He falls.

 _Pin him to the ground, make him immobile until Kakashi calls the match._

"Looks like we have a winner."

It only took two minutes.

.

Sakura watches as Naruto is getting beaten by a royally pissed off Sasuke. She is with Kakashi now, working on her combat form. Or, they are supposed to be. Instead, they are both holding a quiet conversation while trying not to wince as Sasuke kicks his opponent in the gut.

"You could have finished much sooner. If you had used direct attacks, it would have been easier." Kakashi has his book out, and is holding it with one hand while the other is in his pocket. He looks casual and lazy, but his attention is on the girl standing next to him.

"Maybe, but is my way not more humbling?." She takes out a box of mixed flavor Pocky and pops a stick in her mouth. Silently, she holds the box up for Kakashi to take one. "Ah, chocolate. A good choice, taichou."


	12. Actions and Words

The next morning, Sakura arrives before the allocated time. The first person there is, surprisingly, neither her nor Kakashi, who often makes a brief appearance before going to his vigil at the memorial stone. It is a boy with black hair and a scowl on his face that is waiting for her.

Before she can settle and open up her breakfast, Sasuke stands up. He walks, a bit cautious in his footsteps as if he expects them to fall into the ground. Considering their 'test' from their first day and his unfortunate neck deep dirt bath, it is not an unfounded fear.

Sasuke stands up taller as he says this, cocky persona gone in favor of anger. "I know you weren't fighting yesterday. Do you think I'm not good enough? Fight. Me."

Demands like this were much cuter when he was a child.

"Forgive me, Sasuke." Sakura's fingers twitch, and she has to stop herself from poking his forehead. "Maybe later." In hindsight, Sakura should have known that those words would provoke him.

Instead of responding he attacks; Sakura is starting to wonder if pre-training assaults are going to be a regular part of her day. She hopes not. She wants to just sit and eat her breakfast, but she cannot enjoy the most important meal of the day uninterrupted anymore.

Sasuke needs to learn not to charge in headfirst, angry, and without a plan. If he were to do that with any enemy nin that may irritate him, he might die. As much as she does not want to, her brother needs to learn one way or another. If he will not listen to words, he may listen to action.

The jutsu that she can publicly use without suspicion are the Academy Three. She has already shown proficiency in a basic visual illusion genjutsu and Moguragakure no Jutsu, so there is no point in hiding those. Five jutsu along with her weapon skills, she can make due with that.

 _Dodge his feint, block the real attack. Use kunai. Put pressure on it, pushing him back. Grab arm, pull it so that he loses balance, use momentum from his leaning back to throw him in ground._

Sasuke's attack is blocked, and he leans backwards, not wanting to be pushed back like the day before. He learns that Sakura is not going to use the same strategy when he goes crashing into the dirt.

He scrambles back up, only to see Sakura standing casually, fiddling with her weapon. His hands flash rapidly through seals, and he is about to use one of his family's signature attacks.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

 _Last second Kawarimi, then go underground. When he is looking, appear behind him. End battle._

Sasuke is not prepared to see his fireball hit, and he pauses for a second. The charred remains of a log, and it is always a goddamned log, spur him into motion. He is about to jump into a tree for cover, but as he tries to leap there is resistance around his ankle. Whoever is holding him rises, and takes him with her. She then throws him down. He, once again, falls to the ground. There is a pressure on his back, and this position is becoming much too common for him.

"Please, Sasuke…" Sakura sounds more sad than anything. Most people would gloat over their defeat of the last Uchiha, the Rookie of the Year. She sounds resigned, and a little disappointed. Sasuke does not know if this makes him more angry than potential mockery. "Sasuke, just… please do not throw your life away for pride."

"I don't plan on it."

"Maybe so, but realize that I am not the only one who you will ever be up against. We are shinobi, not invincible."

.

Sasuke has not looked at Sakura at all, or has tried not to anyways. Sakura sits and eats her Pocky, and tries not to stare at him. Their relationship is less than friendly, and if she cannot salvage it, she at least wants to make sure that Sasuke does not get himself killed in a battle of hubris. She refuses to give up on being his brother again; she wants to fix their broken bonds. But if she must, she will give all of herself to Sasuke and his safety.

 _(She did promise her parents after all, right before she killed them in front of the only one she had left.)_

 **Notes: Justus mentioned:**  
 **Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu**  
 **Fire style: Fireball Jutsu**

 **If I'm wrong, please tell me. I'm not exactly fluent (or knowledgeable in any way) with the Japanese language.**


	13. These Eyes of Mine

The smell of booze in the air is enough to make Sakura's nose scrunch up in agony. An Inuzuka in the corner of the mission room looks like she wants to throw up, or maybe jump through the window. Naruto, most likely regretting his decision to argue with the Hokage, looks at their client incredulously. The man, a bridge builder named Tazuna who won't admit to having an alcohol problem, gives their team an equal look of disbelief.

"These brats are supposed to keep me from danger?" Sakura can see something along the lines of remorse etched onto his face. Great, this mission may get them all killed.

"Hey! Shut up old m-!" Kakashi whacks Naruto on the back of the head, which effectively shuts him up. He then goes on to explain that he's a Jounin, so Tazuna has nothing to worry about. That is, unless he has something to share with the team. The man shakes his head, and makes his way out of the mission room with three Genin and a Jounin following close behind.

.

They had the order to pack and meet at the gates in ten minutes, tops. Sakura walks to her house, not bothering to shunshin on days like this. She lets Konoha surround her, and the peace is calming. It is good to see the village at its best, before the carnage of war and betrayal touch it again.

"Sakura." Her mother stands there, holding a plate of onigiri. The older woman looks at Sakura, and having known the girl for all of her current life, understands. "Just be home safe. And take this as a snack for the road."

Sakura gives her mother a hug, and buries her face into the crook of her neck. Her mother takes this as a sign of stress, and pats her on the back. Sakura does not say that having somebody there to make her something and take care of her is why she has tears coming down her eyes.

"Thanks, mom."

.

The team, sans Kakashi, is already there by the time Sakura gets to the gate. She is munching on a rice ball and holds out two more for her teammates to take. Naruto looks like she has just offered him eternal happiness, and Sasuke looks like he wants to throw this one away just like the last. There is a popping noise, some smoke, and Kakashi is right behind them. Naruto is surprised enough to start choking on his onigiri, and their team's leader is helpful enough to smack his back hard enough for the morsel to come flying back up.

"I feel so unloved, Sakura-chan." Kakashi points to the saliva covered monstrosity that had just come out of Naruto's mouth. "You didn't get any for me?" His faux-disappointment is somehow conveyed through the one eye that she can see.

Sasuke holds out his, and it is taken by Jounin. Everybody is watching as Kakashi moves it closer and closer to his mouth. Sakura blinks and misses the millisecond it took for him to eat it. Judging by the muttering and sour looks from the rest of the group, she thinks they did too. She will have to ask about how he managed to do that later.

.

They are walking down a very open dirt road that has a lot of tree and brush cover on either side of it. It makes Sakura feel exposed, but she is not as nervous as she probably should be. She knows that there are many things that can hide in the cover of the forest on either side of them, but with Kakashi on their team, she does not worry. He is a good tracker, and they both have the experience that all those who wear the porcelain masks do.

"Oi, why can't we go faster." Naruto has grown bored, and Sakura can understand that. They have been walking for a long time, and the boy does not have the best attention span. Although she also wishes that they could run through the trees as usual, she does have to admire the pace Tazuna is going at for an elderly civilian.

What she does not admire, however, is the way his eyes are scrutinizing the path, as if expecting some danger to appear. She was already suspicious, and now she knows something is going to happen. This C-rank is somehow going to end up with someone injured or dead, she can feel it. Whoever ends up falling, she will make sure that it is not one of her teammates.

.

There is a puddle in the middle of the road. Sakura makes discreet signs to Kakashi. It will not reveal anything, except that which her leader already suspects.

 _'Danger ahead, confront?'_

 _'Hold, see who is target.'_

She nods at Kakashi.

.

Two figures emerge from the puddle, and they look intimidating. Emphasis on look. They have a chain that connects them and, while it might be useful in coordinated attacks against a single enemy, using it against a group will only hinder them.

The chains wrap around Kakashi and his guts spill all over the road. Sakura may or may not signal _'Screw_ _you'_ to where she knows he is hiding.

The self proclaimed Demon Brothers are approaching Tazuna, exuding Killing Intent. She does not notice it until she sees her two teammates shiver, and not in anticipation.

It is a mere brush against her senses, but she realizes that they have not experienced the adrenaline and instinctive terror real combat can bring. She will protect them, at least until they become used to the sensation that makes the hair on the back their necks prickle.

She flashes in front of Tazuna as soon as the brothers have their weapons raised to hit the target.

.

Sasuke finally manages to work himself out of his stupor, and gets a kunai out from his pouch. He sees them lunge for the client, and he is about to dash over and try to intercept the attack when they both fall and writhe on the ground, clutching themselves and making horrible keening noises. He hears a soft voice say 'Kai' and both of them fall unconscious from whatever hell they were forced to experience.

Something about that jutsu, whatever it was, scares the hell out of Sasuke. He feels his traitorous hands shaking, and his knees aren't working, and he's going to fall over-

"Calm down, Sasuke. I didn't think you would get this upset over me, but I guess I should be flattered." Kakashi catches him as he about to fall, and his cheeky comment grates on Sasuke's nerves. That does nothing to stop the subtle tremors that he still has.

"It- it wasn't you."

.

Somehow the team has decided to keep going. Sakura understands why, but she does not know the reason no messenger hawk has been sent requesting backup. She would send a message herself, but a crow appearing in Konoha with a letter strapped to its leg will not be taken kindly.

Naruto then sends a kunai flying into the underbrush, revealing a terrified rabbit. It's a white rabbit, despite the fact that getting a brown rabbit in this area should pose no problem for anybody above Genin. The people after them were really starting to irritate Sakura. She rolls her eyes at Kakashi, and crouches down just as a giant sword flies at them.

A shirtless man with a Kiri hitai-ate and a bandaged mask lands atop the sword. His back is, for some reason, to them. She wonders how he has managed to avoid getting a kunai inserted into his spinal cord by now.

.

"Sharingan no Kakashi."

She recognizes the swirling red and black that Kakashi uncovers. So that was the name of her accursed eyes from before: _sharingan_.

.

There is a lot of fog. And once again her teammates are petrified. The man, who has introduced himself as Zabuza, is now listing the different vital organs. Although Sakura wants to, she refrains from adding to his list. Telling him about a unique to kill somebody with a blow to just one kidney is not going to help the situation.

Kakashi is off fighting Zabuza alone, beyond their view in the mist. She knows that she is best left here to guard Tazuna and her teammates while he goes to deal with the threat, but she cannot help but think that directly going up against a high ranking missing nin is a bit foolhardy. Especially since she knows that his stamina is greatly diminished when he uses his eye.

 _("You have great control over the sharingan, better than some Uchiha. But what you don't have, and never will, is the chakra to keep it active for so long." For three days or three seconds, depending on who is watching, Kakashi is trapped. Then he falls.)_

A Zabuza clone decides to appear behind them. Sakura gets the feeling that she is going to be seeing a lot of clones before the fight is over. She stabs it with a kunai and it dissipates. More clones appear and she throws weapons that take them out with perfect accuracy, even without the advantage of clear vision.

 _(Day after day, she became a little weaker. Her body was deteriorating and her eyesight dissolving with every use. Nothing was clear anymore, nothing but her goals and her mind. She will survive, for a little while longer at least.)_


	14. I Don't Want to Hurt You

Kakashi was a porcelain mask, a person who is the elite of the elite in what they do. And he has somehow gotten himself trapped in a glorified bubble. He better not die like this, or else Konoha will be known only for the fact that one of their most notorious shinobi died in a bubble. A bubble.

Sakura is officially sick of this mission. Somehow the team has gotten separated and now Naruto and Sasuke are planning some sort of scheme that will hopefully not end with everybody's death. She slices the last of the Zabuza clones, and runs over to where the two are huddled. Sasuke gives her a look, one that is terrified, but more indignant, as he hurls the giant shuriken at their enemy.

.

The supposed hunter nin is picking up the 'dead' body. Sakura, who is more than a little pissed off, glares at him. She makes sure to send him a spike of Intent as she speaks to him.

"You are supposed to kill him on the spot. Unless he has a village secret that needs to be extracted in a secure location. But send teams after those kinds of missing nin, do they not?"

The boy, who she can tell is bewildered despite the mask he has over his face, just grabs the fallen man and leaves in a puff of smoke. Kakashi is passed out, her two teammates are panting and out of stamina, and the bridge builder looks like he may go into cardiac arrest any minute.

She cannot afford to go after those two with the condition everybody is in, especially since she has no clue if they were the last team sent to ambush them.

"Tazuna." The man looks up, startled. Her voice is more commanding, less calm than it was before. "Lead the way." She gestures to the road ahead of them, and hoists Kakashi onto her back. Naruto is about to argue and insist he carries him, but Sakura gives him an authoritative look. Both boys are too wiped out to do much, let alone carry an adult man.

Besides, she hasn't given anybody a piggyback since she was Sasuke's big brother.

.

Sakura walks into the room holding a tray with a small portion of food that will, hopefully, not come back up. She had heard that Kakashi had awoken, and she offered to bring him something to eat. The room is empty except for Kakashi and herself. She sets the tray down next to him, and sits cross legged next to him.

"They know that Zabuza's not dead."

"Yes. I questioned his accomplice, but following them would have compromised both the mission and the safety of the team and client." Sakura gives the full report, not leaving anything out. Of course, she remains objective and does not share her opinions on how Kakashi should not be so self-sacrificial; that would be both unprofessional and hypocritical.

"You knew the Kiri ANBU guidelines." He does not sound suspicious, as the porcelain masks, or ANBU now, know international guidelines. After looking at her for a while, with a ponderous expression on his face, he decides to ask. It may go against protocol, but this is Kakashi's team and he needs to know about things that may become relevant or interfere with missions later on. He is also curious. "What animal were you?"

Sakura, not wanting to give herself away by telling him of her bloodsoaked mask, just shrugs. "I do not think that I should tell you. For now, let us go with… Weasel." It feels right somehow, although Sakura cannot quite place it. It must be linked somehow to her former life.

"Weasel, huh? It's almost as unwanted as Fox."

.

They stand in a small clearing, facing trees that are of a formidable size, although not quite the hulking giants that surround Konoha. Kakashi is finally up and running, albeit with the help of crutches. He walks up to the tree and does not stop once he reaches it. Instead he goes up, keeping a steady pace despite his horizontal position. Both of her other teammates have the look of somebody who has seen something impressive, but not that impressive.

"Tree walking! It helps improve your chakra control, and can be used to enhance your maneuverability." Kakashi goes on explaining, while Sakura thinks on other things. She should try to somehow teach them how to deal with Killing Intent, but struggles with how to do so without making them wary, or even more so in Sasuke's case.

Kakashi makes everybody try to climb the trees with varying levels of success. While Naruto manages to get a little ways up the tree through sheer momentum, Sasuke flies off with a piece of bark stuck to his foot.

"Where'd Sakura-chan go?" Naruto looks around, trying to find his teammate who seems to have vanished. A whistle, not unlike that of a bird's, comes from above. Sakura is hanging upside down from a branch, nothing but her feet holding her to it.

Naruto looks amazed, Sasuke annoyed, and Kakashi eye smiles.

"And Sakura-chan is here to assist you." He flickers away, much too fast for a man who is in crutches.

Sakura mumbles something that sounds like, 'Stupid taichou…'. She turns to the boys standing in front of their trees. They do not look bruised from their encounter with the ground, which is good.

"Okay, try again, but at a slower pace." They do as she says, adjusting the chakra concentration and levels that go into their feet. Both of the boys are doing fairly well, and Sakura only has to prevent them from breaking their necks three times.

.

Once they manage to get to the lowest branch, which is actually fairly high up, they are sweating and panting. Controlling chakra is more tiring than most people assume; learning to use less is harder than just using whatever the default output of your body is.

The sun is still up, but it is approaching dusk. Despite the fact that she tells them that they can stop for the day, they continue to work.  
At one point she starts casually throwing kunai for them to dodge. Being able to change direction is very important, after all.

.

They make a routine. Kakashi will demonstrate and teach some new basic jutsu exercise and Sakura helps in working out the kinks, while she herself also practices.

.

Kakashi looks at Sakura and she looks back at him. They both have an idea of what should be taught at this point, but neither are sure they want to demonstrate. Trying to curb ANBU level Killing Intent so it can be used with Genin is something that has not been taught before, as far as they know.

Most gain a slow immunity as they take missions that rise in rank, but if any of Team Seven ends up paralyzed again it could end up with somebody dead.

Sakura remembers how broken Kakashi gets at the idea of hurting comrades, let alone children he is supposed to take care of. She makes the decision for him.

"I think that it would be best for you to guard Tazuna. Zabuza should be close to recovered by now."

"…Are you sure?"

"Taichou, as the team leader they need to trust you. I am merely another fresh Genin."

.

Sasuke feels a prickle on the back of his neck. Then he has the sensation of being watched, no, stalked. It blooms into full irrational terror soon after. He wants to see if anybody else is effected, or if it is just him, but the idea of moving at all chills him with a bright white fear.

He doubts it is Zabuza, as the older nin would have killed him by now. The feeling is familiar, almost like-

"Fight it." Sakura's voice is almost muffled by the ringing that has been growing since he first felt whatever this is. She sounds solid, like a cold stone jutting out from the cliff he is falling down. He feels a sting on his cheek and exits his trance.

His hands shake as they touch his face. Blood comes off on them, and he turns to Sakura. "What the fuck was that?" He is doing a poor job at keeping the tremors out of his voice. She does not respond at first, and Sasuke feels closer to losing his mind every time that she is around, let alone doing whatever the hell that was. He asks her again, and this time he gets a reply.

"It is called Killing Intent. It can paralyze you, give you visions of death, and can be what turns a battle to your favor." It really is underappreciated, but it can be more effective than some genjutsu if it is powerful enough. It is not a technique or jutsu, so many shinobi forget it exists. That is their mistake, and often undoing. She will not let her friends (and family) die for having such naïveté as to think that something so simple can be overlooked.

"As long as you're not gonna actually kill us, Sakura-chan!" Naruto is as bright as ever. He accepts the situation easily, and it makes Sakura feel less guilty. Sasuke gives them both a glare and a grunt.

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Those words feel like somebody is trying to cut away her heart.


	15. The Bravest Coward

Naruto is sleeping in a meadow, and Sakura makes sure to station herself a little bit aways. He would not appreciate what he would interpret as a babysitter, so he has a crow watching over him and a girl who is ready to intervene if she is called.

From the other side of the rock outcropping that she is resting behind, she hears a low, almost imperceptible groan. There is the sound of shuffling, and then more steady steps. They move closer, but Sakura does not worry. Both of them know that she is there, as she has not bothered to side herself. The man _was_ a Jounin before he went rogue.

"You are looking better, Zabuza-san." The footsteps stop, and then start again as he appears Sakura's field of vision. He looks weary and wary, probably having seen or heard of what she did to the Demon Brothers, but still confident that if it came to blows he would win. Neither make the first move, and they stay staring at each other for a while. Then Sakura gestures to the spot next to her. "Sit; I will not fight you if I do not have to." That gets a derisive snort from the man.

"And you think you would win?" It is sarcastic, and much less threatening than she would expect from him. His hand stays on his sword at all times though, so if he wants to he can turn to the type of violence that earned him his Demon of the Mist monicker. Sakura does not think he will; the way he leans on the sword as he sits is more for support than anything else.

"Your injuries are looking much better, thanks to your partner no doubt. Although, I would suggest a cane rather than a sword." The child's casual mention of his disadvantage is intentional, meant to demonstrate her higher chances if they should fight, and to just plain piss him off. Zabuza knows these tactics, yet cannot help but feel a little irked at the pink-haired girl.

Then she holds out a box of mixed flavor Pocky. "Try one. There is no poison in them, I assure you."

Sakura sees him debate whether to take a bite out of the pink stick he has just taken. Masks can be personal, and letting another person see what is underneath is hard. Exposing a part of himself to a shinobi who is technically his enemy must be a challenge, even if his enemy is a little girl who has just offered him a snack. The furrows in Zabuza's eyebrows silently speak of his debate with himself.

"I used to know a man that had a sword not unlike yours. He was… a strange man. He was also a dear friend of mine." Sakura pauses, and thinks back to her former partner. They were friends, despite all personality traits suggesting otherwise. "I will not look, if that is what you wish."

Zabuza unfurls his bandages and takes a bite out of his strawberry Pocky with his sharpened teeth.

.

After they polish off the box, Sakura speaks up once more. This feels like the most she has spoken in a long time, but she does not mind. Her head is a lonely place for thoughts to be.

"He loves you, you know. The boy thinks that you are all there is to life." Zabuza looks like he about to argue, or spout some nonsense that he knows is not true. She interrupts before he can even begin to speak against her. "It is rare to find love like that; hold on to it and never let it go."

.

They are eating at the table in Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami's house. Naruto seems to have made some sort of breakthrough with the child that has been emitting a depressing aura for the whole time that they have been there. He is talking about some friend of his that he found in the woods, and Inari is raptly listening. Sakura can hear Tsunami warning her son that it is not okay to make friends with strangers in the middle of the woods, even if Naruto did.

The dinner is easy, and Sakura almost feels like a human being again.

.

There is fog everywhere and a battle starts. She stands in front of Tazuna, as always, and keeps a watchful gaze on the scene before her. Being able to see both battles simultaneously is an advantage, but she is by no means pleased by her position.

There are people in front of her that are precious, and that she knows are actually in danger, can actually die. If there was one thing she missed from her past, it was the knowledge that her partner was always capable of taking care of himself.

Naruto has trapped himself in the mirrors that are formed around Sasuke, and Kakashi is wielding his eye. Needles start puncturing the boys, scratching their skin and causing them to bleed.

She knows that the team's leader is too occupied to help without risking the death of both himself and his students. Sakura wants to protect them, or at least assist them, so badly that it hurts.

The bridge is cold and mist is everywhere. Sakura hopes that Tazuna will not mention this to any of her teammates after this, and that the mist is thick enough to cover her from view. She whispers the name of her technique; she never understood why some people would shout the name of their jutsu before they used them, and she has yet to find an answer in her current life.

"Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu."

.

Kakashi is in battle with the Demon of the Mist, a fierce ninja who killed hundreds without any formal training. There is water everywhere from clones and jutsu clashing, the bridge is broken in many places, and a single red eye is spinning wildly. Both men are panting, but neither willing to give up the battle. Hands are flying through handsigns, and the chakra in the air is thick and almost viscous.

Then they hear what sounds like a caw, and a spark of chakra is coming towards them. Kakashi curses, because even though he is almost certain that his student has seen worse than this, she is a child and officially a Genin who should not have to help her sensei battle a high ranking missing nin. He is surprised when he hears Zabuza muttering a soft exclamation also.

"Sakura?"

" _Pocky girl?_ "

.

Sasuke cannot melt the ice with his fire, and Naruto somehow got it into his head that rushing inside a frozen deathtrap is a good idea. They may not make it out alive, and Sasuke is having a hard time coping with that. It is not helped by the fact that Naruto seems convinced that he can make the enemy his friend.

Senbon made of ice speed at them, as usual, but this time Naruto doesn't dodge in time, and his body moves in between his friend and the needles. He braces himself, waiting for a piercing cold death to take him away. It never comes, and Sasuke ignores the small disappointment that he feels at this.

He whirls around, just in time to see the enemy's senbon clinking to the ground as dozens of crows fly away. There is fire, flames licking at the edges of everything, and their prison of ice melts as the masked boy falls. The material covering his face breaks, and Naruto gasps. He thinks that he hears Naruto say a something, but he cannot be certain. All he can see is the space where a vortex of black feathered birds just were.

He couldn't have been saved by That Man.

.

"Zabuza-san, did you forget what I said the other day?" Sakura is not pleading, but her voice still has that edge of an imploring tone. She does not want to have to resort to violence, and she does not want to have to use a genjutsu on the man. Just because she is hesitant to do so, however, does not mean that she will not if it becomes necessary. "Even demons have hearts."

Kakashi has no idea what is going on, nor when his student had the time to talk to Zabuza, let alone avoid battle with him. The other ninja has stopped moving though, and it is a perfect opportunity to kill him. He should, but he doesn't. The missing nin actually looks conflicted. "...He is just a tool. I have honed his edges and made him my weapon."

"Shut _UP_!" The voice comes from the direction that the rest of Team Seven was battling the fake ANBU boy. Naruto comes storming in, head held high and tears streaming down his face. In his arms is an unconscious body, one with long hair and a broken mask. He stops and stares directly at Zabuza, accusing him with his gaze. "He loved you, and you just use him like that? You mean more than life to Haku! Just _SHUT UP_!"

There is a stirring from Naruto's arms, and eyes open weakly. "It's okay, Zabuza-sama… It is an honour to be your tool." The boy is singed, and has probably inhaled smoke. Still, his voice has no trace of the gravel that accompanies fire; it is gentle and soft.

"Zabuza-san, please, do not become a coward like I was." Sakura knows what it is like to give up everything for a person, to relinquish all that makes her human in order to protect who is most precious to her. She regrets what she has had to do to the boy, but if it can move their enemy, it will be worth it.

.

Naruto is speaking in that brash way of his, breaking tact and cutting deep with his words. It is simple, and somehow, against all odds, it makes the masked missing nin reach out and take Haku into his arms. "Thank you."

Then Zabuza turns to Sakura. They say nothing, but they nod in understanding.

She hands him a box of Pocky. "For the road, Zabuza-san."

 **Notes: Jutsu:**  
 **Crow Clone Jutsu**


	16. The One Lie I Refuse to Tell

Sakura knows that Sasuke is both afraid and angry. She knows that what she did was stupid, but she will not see him die. Naruto is chipper, and trying to catch his attention. He wants to thank Sasuke for risking his life, but the boy is not paying attention.

She can see the way his eyebrows scrunch together and his scowl deepens. His fingers twitch, as if about to reach into his weapons pouch. As much as she wants to comfort him, she will not make the first move.

He walks up to her, slowing down to her pace in the fog. Zabuza and Haku are gone, have been for days, but it will take awhile for the mist to clear. In all honesty, Sakura does not mind; it is a welcome cool on her skin. She does not think that the boy beside her appreciates it though, if his slight shiver has anything to say. Still, he is resigned to guarding Tazuna until the bridge is finally complete.

"Did you call him here somehow? Why would he listen to you?" Sasuke's words are rough, and his voice sounds like that of a man who has lived past his expiration date. It causes Sakura to pause, and Sasuke as well. She turns and just sees the faint outline of his face, even though they are less than five feet away from each other.

"I did not summon any person here, nor is anyone under my command." Her voice is smooth, and she does not flinch when his eyes spiral into red.

It unnerves Sasuke; it is not the fact that she is not scared of it, but the fact that she barely notices it, as if the sharingan were an everyday occurrence to her. That is enough confirmation in his mind.

"I know that you know him, so tell me what he wants with me! To kill me like he did with the rest of my family?" She stiffens, and then she shakes her head, although it is barely visible.

"Whoever you seem to think I am associating with seems… Above my paygrade, as one might say." She leaves before he can respond, her form fading out into the distance.

.

"The Great Naruto Bridge? They should invest in fishcake production, it could really do wonders for their economy."

"Sakura-chan! My name isn't- Argh, never mind!"

"You could open a stand on the bridge and sell to travellers. ' _The Great Naruto Serves Great Naruto on the Great Naruto Bridge!_ ' It might be difficult to fit on a sign, though."

"Kakashi-sensei! Don't take her side!"

.

After returning to Konoha, it is calm. For about a minute. Naruto's younger friend/henchman has just ran into a foreign shinobi. The ninja has the boy held up by his scarf, scrutinizing him. Konohamaru is struggling and calling him names in a truly untactful manner reminiscent of his 'Boss'. Sakura has an unpleasant feeling about this situation.

"Who's this brat?" The ninja holding Konohamaru has purple markings on his face, and a wrapped up object on his back. Behind him is a girl with dirty blonde hair and a fan strapped to her back. She gives him a look of irritation, before giving him a small whop to the head. He flinches, but does not let go.

Sakura sees their hitai-ate, and sees the hourglass-esque symbol scratched into it. Suna-nin. Something is off with them, along with the fact that they have a third member who is hidden in the trees. Team Seven has a teammate in the trees too, but it is more acceptable to hide in one's own village than a foreign one.

She gives him her most innocent smile. "It may cause international unrest if a Suna-nin such as yourself were to harm the _Hokage's most honourable grandson_." Konohamaru drops like a sack of potatoes against the ground as the other pulls his hand away, as if burned by hot coals. Sakura cannot blame him; hurting the relative of a village leader is never a good idea, especially when in said village.

.

"I could have hit him." Sasuke leans against the tree he was sitting in, watching as they walk away, wondering why they were even in Konoha. He figures that there must have been a courier mission for them or something along the lines of that, but it just doesn't feel right. Upon a glance at the crowd around the busy street he sees a lot of people he does not recognize, most of which have hitai-ate that he does not recognize.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, it would not look good for Konoha if we treated our guests with such hostility." Sakura is suddenly beside him, no longer next to Naruto. She is a shinobi, a master of stealth and deception, but that does not make it any less unnerving. "It appears that our village is hosting the Chunin Exams this year."

Sakura has a gut feeling that this is not a good thing, and her instinct has saved her from death before.

.

Sakura knows that Kakashi does not really expect them to pass, but to both enhance their skill and show them off to the other villages. These exams have always been more for show than anything else, as most get their ranks from field promotions. Even so, it troubles her.

She looks at the form, knowing that if she does not sign it the whole team will ultimately be unable to participate. It would also be highly suspect for a Genin who has been in the ranks for less than a year not to try to move on and prove themselves before they should. _(Or, at least, unless they have seen the true suffering of death and are the shinobi who delivers it. To kill is something that changes a person.)_

And, if push came to shove, she suspects that an older Genin with no team would be chosen to fill her spot. It is not unheard of for that to happen, and if it did come to pass she would only be able to watch from the sidelines as her brother and her friends put themselves in danger.

She signs the papers.

.

It is not long before the exams are going to start. Sakura needs a way to silently communicate with her teammates and a way for them to respond in a similar manner. Hand signals seem like the best option, although the regular types may be too obvious, especially if they have espionage testing.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei said that we get to relax today." Naruto is slumping against a tree, looking as if he is a dying man in a melodrama. It may be seen as endearing, if the team isn't so pressed for time.

"He said independant training. Kakashi-taichou said we can do independant training. It is not the same thing, Naruto-kun." He is starting to look put out, and she needs him to want to learn. "...It's something that even Kakashi-taichou does not know." That causes him to perk up instantly, along with his brooding companion.

 _(She looks over at her friend. The Warhawk has pawns taught every secret hand code that he knows of, the ANBU ones included. "We need our own signals." She talks softly, almost silent, but she knows that her best friend can hear her._

 _"We have to disguise it though; it would be suspicious for us to use unknown signals. He would just have a specialist break the code." She knows her friend is thinking of all the 'ANBU' with pure white masks that follow them.)_

"These are disguised as simple, casual ticks and unconscious movements." Her hand flips her hair back, adjusts her shirt, and she wrinkles her nose. All are common gestures, yet also communicate something. "The only drawback is if somebody actually twitches naturally and it is seen as a signal."

Naruto looks properly excited, loud in his approval at learning 'Sneaky Ninja Stuff'. Sasuke, as always around her, is glaring. But it seems more intense than usual, and it reminds her of when he caught her with her kunai tricks.

"Let us meet at my house in ten minutes; it is best to learn in private where no one can spy on us."

Naruto bounds off, leaving the other two alone.

.

"...I have a cousin who taught me that. The only other person who knows it is the man who murdered him." Sasuke sizes the pink haired girl up, trying to see any weaknesses in case this ends in bloodshed. If she is somehow an associate with That Man, it most likely will. "You're no friend of Shisui's, considering you're working for _the man who killed him!_ "

Sakura knows that she will regret her words as soon as they slip out of her mouth, but his name spurs something in her. It fills her with regret and loss and her reaching out for a hand that she can never reach in time. If there is one thing that she can not ignore with a stoic expression it is this.

She walks over to him, not missing the way he steps back. It reminds her of the way his eyes were so scared before she felt her life leave her. It is almost like a mirror of that day, her actions.

Her voice is cracking, but she has never handled his death well, and it still has not changed with her new life.

 _"I did not murder Shisui! I may not have been able to save him, and I may blame myself every day, but… I would never kill my best friend."_


	17. I Will Not Pretend

There is silence throughout the clearing, and it feels tense, as if a string is about to snap and there is nothing Sakura can do about it. The moment stretches on for an impossible amount of time. She can see Sasuke's anger mixing with fear and loathing as he processes what she has just said. He looks at her, with walls in his eyes, and she wishes that they would open up for her like they once did.

"Do you even know their names?" It comes out as a whisper, something quiet but with rage rattling at its edges, trying to break free. "Do you even know the names of the people he killed? The family that he looked right into the eyes of before he fucking _murdered_ them?"

Sakura cannot. All of the people that she has known are forever burned into her memories, and she can tell him everything about them except for what he is asking her. She only gets to put names to faces through secondhand knowledge and overheard conversation. It hurts; she knows that she will never be able to learn all of her lost names.

She is quiet, and Sasuke scowls. His look is one of pure malice and is bitter enough to make her want to hold onto him and never let go. Instead, she just stares back at him, wishing that she can help him without being a villain.

"Otou-" She stops, then starts again. She does not miss the slight flinch that word causes on him. "Sasuke, I cannot do that. Just know that I- he wishes that he told you the truth."

Sasuke will not believe anything that she says at this point, and she does not want him to reject what had happened just because she is the one who tells him. She cannot speak now, but hopefully soon enough she can help Sasuke see through the dark shadows that he has been living in.

.

Sasuke attacks Sakura, and it is all emotion and rage that go into his fist. There is a smacking sound, as she blocks his punch with the palm of her hand. She does not stumble back, or wince, or show any signs of being affected by attack.

Sakura grasps the fist still held in her hand and throws him onto the ground, and he can feel pebbles grinding into his back. Something wet falls into his face and he realizes that she is crying.

It infuriates him.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He spits fire into her face.

She explodes into crows, circling above him before flying away. Her tear is still running down his cheek.

.

Sasuke is sitting by the small pond near his house, trying to decide if he should go after That Man and his teammate on his own. While he knows this is a bad plan, he wants to prove that he can defeat that bastard without anybody's help. If he can defeat Sakura, then maybe she can tell him where to look for his brother. It sounds foolish, even in his own head, but there is a part of him that is compelled to follow that course of action.

"Otouto."

"Don't call me that."

"You must hate me." Sakura moves forward, and sits at the end of the small dock. Sasuke stiffens, but does not otherwise move. "But I will always be there to protect you, even if my only purpose is to live as an enemy to do so." She moves to leave.

Something about what she has said halts him, and he makes himself ask one question.

"Why did you cry?"

Sakura does not know if he is talking about that morning or when she had last glanced at him before leaving the village, resigning herself to the life of a hated missing nin. Either way, the answer is simple and the same.

She has no idea what compels her to do this, other than a need to be Sasuke's brother again, but she takes both her index and middle fingers and pokes him on the forehead. His eyes widen, and she smiles like a man who has lived too long about to face death.

"Because, I did not want you to grow up so young. Older brothers are supposed to protect their siblings, but I think I have failed you." Tears slip down her face. They are small, not the fat sobbing tears of most, but still hold the same pain. That was one thing that she had never fully mastered, how to stop them once they fall. "I am truly sorry."

Sakura can see Sasuke and his confusion. His eyes roll up in an attempt to see the fingers that still rest where she had poked them. "How…" She knows what he is asking.

"A person is made of more than their name. They are made of the ways that they laugh, or how they always cling to their older brother's back the day before they register at the academy."

She smiles, remembering the past and glad to be able to talk about it. Sasuke is silent. His eyes are switching from her face to her hand. They are black, but see more clearly than when they are the color of blood.

"Why are you pretending that he actually loved me?"

.

Sakura stops for a moment, her hand slipping from his forehead to his cheek. Her thumb caresses below his cheek.

 _("There is a day when you will have these eyes." She stares down at him, and grips him a bit tighter. He squirms around, giggling with those cat ears making him look even more innocent. That day, she hopes, is a long way aways.)_

"I was never pretending to love you, never."

Notes: Jutsu:  
Fire style: fireball jutsu


	18. Words for Later

They sit in silence. It must appear to be calm, but there is something tense in Sakura's chest that is clenching her heart. The feeling is not unpleasant. She is looking at Sasuke, watching as his eyes flicker around, trying to figure out who she is. While she is not naïve enough to think that he will automatically believe her, she doubts he can go back to assuming she is merely a strange and quiet girl.

The wood of the docks where they sit in the compound are stained and worn with water, and the tears that have dripped from her eyes leave dark stains. The boards creak as Sasuke shifts, and her hand falls. He does not run, and he does not look angry. He just looks confused.

There are no words spoken. She just brings her hand on the back of his neck and rests his head in the crook of her shoulder. Something in her breaks, no, it is more like a realization of the cracks in her mind and heart. "I wish I could have saved you from myself."

She is real, now more than before. There are many secrets still hidden in her soul, but for now she is okay with trying to be the person she could not in her last life.

.

 _("I love you, aniki!"_

 _"And I you, otouto.")_

.

They sit sombrely for a while. The placid lake starts to ripple with the wind, and the grass is dewy despite the midday sun. It is unnaturally peaceful.

Sakura does not think think that she has Sasuke's trust, not by a long shot, but he looks less like a person stretched taut, ready to break in two. It is all she can ask for, really.

.

"I think that Naruto-kun is still waiting for us."

"This isn't over."

"I know."  
.

The Haruno house is never loud. Her mother is a quiet woman, and her father never talks except for his boisterous laugh when he is amused. They are a muted, yet warm and happy family; it reminds Sakura of pastel colors next to vibrant ones: beautiful, yet perfectly in the background.

Her team is a mix of shocking colors and bright noise with dark whispers. Sakura would be the link between the two, but there is no need for a bridge.

Naruto is sitting in the kitchen, looking over something with her mother. She thinks she hears something about fertilizer when growing a certain kind of spice. It is endearing, seeing the village pariah and her mother engaging in such normal conversation. The Haruno matriarch always did know when there was something special about a person.

Sakura and Sasuke walk into the house, kicking off their sandals by the door. They look tired, but not in the physical sense; the burdens of the past have tested them, and it is yet to be seen who has won.

"Oi, Sakura! You're never late, did Sasuke-teme give you a hard time?" He squints his eyes up, scrutinizing the Uchiha as if he can detect the guilt, or lack thereof, through his sight alone. "If you did, you're gonna have to answer to _me_!" He puffs out his chest and stabs his thumb towards it.

Sakura laughs. It is honest, if a bit worn. "Do not worry, Naruto-kun. We should practice upstairs in my room; there is a lot of work to be done."

.

Sasuke is not sure whether Sakura is a threat or an ally. Either way, the change in her after their talk is immense. She is looser now, and slightly more open in her interactions.

If anything, this change makes her words seem more real than anything else. Years of pleasant memories, ones that he has tried so hard to forget, are brought to life again. The way that Sakura holds herself, the way she smiles, it is eerily familiar. _Aniki. She's just like he was._ He tries his best to banish the thought.

.

Sakura's room is pink. Very, very pink. Her parents had decided that their daughter should have a pink room, because it matched up with her hair and name. She is not exactly an interior decorator, so she has never bothered to change it. The looks she is getting beg for an explanation.

"My room has not changed much since I was a newborn. Besides, the pink dango dumplings always taste best."

.

"Tomorrow is the start of the exams." Kakashi, who has been mysteriously absent from training while Sakura was teaching Naruto her specialized hand signals, appears in his usual poof of smoke. His one eye glances to each of his students. "Hopefully, none of you are going to kill one another. If you do, I'd have to go through a ton of paperwork." He shrugs, as if he is not worried about the team.

He takes out his Icha Icha, and turns to a random page. The book has been read enough times that he can pick it up from anywhere and still follow the -surprisingly well developed- plot. His hand makes a waving motion, and he speaks in his signature lazy voice. "Go home, rest. The reason why most Genin fail is because their nerves are fried from stress and exhaustion."

It is sage advice. Perception is important, and lack of sleep can distort it beyond recognition. Being calm and collected is one of the best assets for situations like the exams, ones that are meant to prey on anxiety and fear. Sakura nods, but the other two look more than a little put out.

.

The hallway is filled with annoyed Genin. There are two people blocking the way into what appears to be the room where they are supposed to go. Sakura stands back, not saying anything. The more people that fall for this, the less that can be threats in the actual exams. She is about to motion for the others to be discreet and head for the stairwell, when Sasuke pushes through the crowd.

He says something to provoke the disguised border guard, and they are about to come to blows. Sakura pulls her teammate back, just as a green clad boy blocks the kick that was aimed for Sasuke. He looks familiar, although from what she remembers, the man she is thinking of is older.

"I am Rock Lee!" The boy announces. He glances in her direction and he's blushing. "Sakura-chan! I have watched you training from afar! You move like both a majestic river and a tranquil lake! It has inspired me to pursue my Youthful endeavors even further! Will you DATE ME?"

 _(She looks into the eyes of the girl. She knows that the other has had a crush on her for a long time, although that is a recent revelation for her. Returning the feelings is something that, at this point, she cannot do. But she can bring some comfort to the girl who had given her dango when the shop had run out._

 _Their eyes meet, and the girl lives a long life in the span of seconds. They have children, grandchildren, and once they die she wakes up. Instead of anger at being deceived, the girl merely smiles._

 _The katana sinks into her and she looks content. "Thank you for letting me see that life.")_

"I apologize Lee-san, but I am not, um, looking for a relationship."

.

The room is crowded. There are many foreign nin in groups, clinging to the shadows and behind corners. Sakura has not seen much of the other participants of the exams, what with her confession and attempts at teaching codes to Naruto and Sasuke. She sees a few in the room that are obvious proctors, and some teams that are at least upper Chunin level already.

One ninja comes up to them, a smile on his face. His leaf headband is shiny, and he exudes a mild aura. Sakura wants to move between him and Sasuke, protect her brother from the threat. Her hairs are on end, but there is not much she can do without alerting others. The best she can come up with is a warning in the form of a spike of Killing Intent that is concentrated so only the enemy can feel it.

His eyebrows raise, and he looks around. The bespectacled nin seems to be unaware of where the Intent came from, but Sakura is smarter than to assume he is oblivious.

 _("I shall tell you the whole truth, but first we should finish this guy." She looks at the crazed man before her. Her brother is beside her, and despite the slow collapse of everything around her, she is okay with herself. The boy beside her, almost a man, nods and she sees him smile for the first time in years._

 _"Okay-" The voice fades out before she can hear her own name. It does not matter, for they are together in this battle against the serpent before them._ )

.

The other 'Rookie Nine', as they have been dubbed, filter in. Sakura hopes that none of them get killed in the fallout that she can feel deep inside of her. Something is unwell in Konoha, and the exams are in the center of it.

.

Team Seven passes, although none of the questions needed to be answered. Sakura suspects that even without her help they would have passed, if only through Naruto's stubbornness. The man who led this portion of the exams gazes over the few people that are left in the room. Ibiki, as he introduced himself, is a scarred man with more guarded information in his mind than most ANBU. Sakura doubts he knows her innermost secrets.

The purple and skin tight fishnet blur that bursts into the window is the opposite of the man's aggressive yet closed off stance. This woman is all exuberance and aggression. She also has a cunning smile that belies her somewhat shallow persona.

"I'm Anko!" The woman introduces herself, and then proceeds to lightly tease Ibiki. She hops onto the sill, and motions for the Genin to follow her. "Follow me."

.

The woman picks up a kunai with her tongue and hands it to the person with the most chance of recognizing her identity. Sakura sees the spark in Anko's eyes, and it is impressive how the woman pretends not to be affected by the one who had taught her and then left her with not a second thought. Anko takes the kunai from the other's tongue, and says a polite 'Thanks a bunch, hon'.

.

Sakura knows that the Forest of Death is full of giants and wild beasts that can kill with barely a glance towards their victims. It calms her, and nostalgia feels both warm and cool in her stomach. She has killed giants bigger than the ones in here after all, with Shisui at her side. The past is so much sweeter with names attached.

.

Sakura has a scroll tucked away, and Sasuke has a decoy one in his weapons pouch. The forest looms ahead of them, but they are from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, so it is nothing that they are not prepared for. The foreign teams, especially ones from villages with vastly different environments, are the ones who are going to have trouble with this.

The gates open up and the team rushes in, running across the branches and into the shadows cast by the trees.


	19. Trust In Me

Sakura knows the pain of changing diapers, so Naruto taking a piss in the bushes means nothing to her. But it must mean something to him, because he blushes before wandering deeper into the bushes. She makes sure that there are beady black eyes watching him to call if he gets into any trouble. Her summons are tough enough to defend against the large creatures here easily; they have been with her to face S-ranked shinobi, after all.

She and Sasuke are alone now, and she can feel the questions burning in his eyes. She makes no acknowledgment of it, except for the words that she speaks. "I will answer, when we have the privacy to do so." A crow caws in the distance. "But now, we have more pressing issues." As she finishes this sentence, a grinning Naruto greets them.

Before he can speak, Sasuke has thrown a kunai at him. He is a blur as he dodges the attack, and then he turns to Sakura with desperation in his eyes. Those blue eyes are tearing up, but show not the betrayal that he should have. "Sakura-chan! Help me!" More kunai are flung at him by Sasuke, who is charging at the other boy.

"I do not assist those who imitate the people I care for." Sasuke kicks the imposter, and a poof of smoke reveals a teenager with what looks like a filter over his mouth. He runs away, mumbling something about how he should not have come alone.

With that confrontation over, Sakura follows her crow to the place where Naruto is tied up and struggling. She takes a blade to the ropes, making sure not to shred them too badly, and packs them into her pouch in case they become useful for later.

.

There is a bamboo shoot sticking out of the ground. There is no place within the forest that bamboo grows. That is a problem, and Sakura wonders how much they are being underestimated. It is literally in plain view of her. Her temper tells her to kick that bamboo shoot into the ground, hopefully stabbing somebody in the face in the process. She keeps her urges in check, if barely.

She raises an eyebrow at her companions, and Sasuke is the one who nods back at her. "We need to come up with passwords, in case we get separated again." Sasuke then says a, frankly convoluted, quote.

The wind that storms through suddenly is enough to knock them all in different directions. It is much too powerful to be used by a Genin, and Sakura has a feeling that she knows exactly what the snake is coming after.

.

"How do I know it's you? What's the password?"

"I could ask you the same thing, otouto."

"...Let's just find the dobe."

.

"A ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike." Sasuke smirks, and points out exactly how he knows that the person in front of them is definitely not Naruto. While Sakura thinks that he is greatly underestimating Naruto, she has to admit that he does not have the attention span to memorize all of that.

The tongue that comes out of 'Naruto's' mouth is long, disgusting, and makes the enemy easy to identify. When he comes out of his disguise, he is in the form of a girl that he probably killed. It is disgusting, the way that he can wear the identity of the person he has killed. Sakura does not want Sasuke to be anywhere near this man, especially with what he is after.

.

 _(She is outside of the base. This is the place she is supposed to spy on. Her stoic expression remains on her face as she enters the building, the sun providing a backlight and creating a huge shadow. The first fleeting thought in her head is, 'Good thing there isn't a Nara here'. She is not nervous, per se, but she is guarded and careful about her movements._

 _Soon enough the introductions are finished and she is heading down the steps, black and red robes flowing around her._

 _"Kukukuku…" The laugh that could only belong to the traitorous snake sannin comes from behind her. She has him in her grips before he can make a move. His summons don't touch her, and she impales him in his own mind. Shaking hands reach up, and although she knows that yelling 'Kai' will do less than nothing, she still severs his hand. The greedy bastard is looking for eternal life, and is convinced that her eyes will help him attain that power._

 _"My eyes can see through any jutsu you use." Her eyes narrow, and she can feel them spiraling with power.)_

.

Sasuke can feel the crawling on his skin, not the rough kind that most ninja give off, not the silent and bone deep chill that Sakura gives off; this woman's Killing Intent is more like venom welling in his veins and corrupting him from the inside out.

He cannot move most of his body, but manages to tilt his head towards Sakura. She is staring at the woman who has just shed her disguise, eyes lidded in a way that was more frightening than most glares.

"Impressive. This little one can actually move his head." Sakura's eyes follow intently as the woman gets closer to Sasuke. A kunai comes flying out when she gets too close for Sakura's liking. This brings her attention to the pink haired girl. "And this one isn't even phased."

"There are worse things than you out there, shinobi-san." And it is true. "I have met demons, and you are not one of them. Even if you wish to be." _("Demons are born, but monsters like you? They are made.")_

.

Naruto is not having a pleasant time. He is being squished by a giant snake's gut, and his lunch has just gotten disintegrated by stomach acid. This leaves him hungry, grumpy, and about to be melted by whatever snakes have in their digestive systems.

He is getting ready to say his internal last goodbyes when he feels the first poke. Then he hears what sounds like a thousand birds. Not the chirping that rise before the sun, but grating caws. There is another poke, then another. The first beak that breaks through the snake's stomach is covered in gore and looks straight at him.

Naruto is not sure whether to be glad for the rescue, or suspicious by their less than friendly introductions. He decides that, if they are the reason why he isn't a pile of flesh with acid burning him, he should be grateful.

"Thanks crow-san!" It squawks at him and flies away, the rest of the blood soaked flock following.

.

"Sasuke. Run." Sakura needs him to be out of the reach of her opponent. There should be some ANBU patrolling around, quietly searching for the missing-nin. If they were to do so openly, it would cause political unrest and the snake would slither away in the process. "Follow the birds and find Naruto."

"And what about you?" A crow lands on Sasuke's shoulder, poking him out of his trance from the opponent's Intent. He pays no heed, instead continuing to argue with Sakura. "Do you think that you can beat her?" He jabs a finger at the disguised man, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

"Trust in me, Sasuke. Please."


	20. My Own Name

Sakura can see Sasuke about to say no, say that he does not trust her enough to hold off the enemy long enough for them to escape. She mouths 'Please, otouto' and he listens. The crow flies off his shoulder and stays just a few feet ahead of him as he follows it.

.

"Crows? Fascinating. I've only met one man who has those summons." Sakura knows that he is referring to the man she used to be. It occurs to her that she does not remember her old name, even if she can recall every detail of what she had seen in the mirrors, back when she was him. "But you are not worth the time it will take to reach and capture that boy. I would have loved to see what made you… tick."

 _He's going to try to bypass to get to Sasuke; block using clone, use crows as cover._

The enemy nin moves, and he moves fast. The girl has no time to block the attack, as he slides his body straight through hers. Instead of the slick sound of carnage meeting the ground, his ears are filled with the flapping of a thousand wings.

The largest bird, the leader, is covered from beak to tail feathers in foul smelling gore. He does not think that the crow hit him, and is confused for a second before he recognizes the scent of one of his summons. The bird looks him dead in the eye, and its caw is a laugh of mockery.

 _Either summon snakes or use his elongation jutsu. Maybe both. Blind snakes, use vulnerability of stretched limbs._

He rolls his sleeve up, revealing a tattoo. He coats his fingers in blood, making a stripe down his wrists. The seal glows before several snakes emerge in smoke. They hiss, and the venom is practically dripping from their fangs.

The call of crows resound throughout the small clearing. The snakes are trying to use their huge mouths to snap her summons in half, or their tails to knock them out of the air. The chaos that ensues is one that knocks down trees and leaves trenches in the ground.

 _Look him in the eyes._

.

Sasuke hears crashing and yelling from behind him. Hissing and flapping and the snap of broken bones. It starts as soon as he runs after the crow, and he almost heads back; he does not want to rely on anyone again. The bird that he is following squawks at him, and it gives him a look that makes it clear that he should not return. It bothers him, but at least he can rescue his idiot friend.

.

((The grave is small, and his sensei is waiting for him. Rain from earlier leaves a sheen across the stone, and he kneels down to touch it with his fingertips. There is no one left, only him. His parents are buried under his feet and he only has a cold and empty house to go to, because home was with them. The dead animal is dark and reeks of molt and rotting feathers. Its beak is open, the last sounds of its life, lost.

(But there isn't supposed to be a crow, it's supposed to be something else…)

"Crows." He hears his sensei behind him, and this whole scene is starting to feel suffocating. "They guide us to the other side safely. Hopefully this one is making sure you don't lose your way."

(They talked about the continuance of life, not its end. But now, they are discussing what happens after. Something is wrong.)

"Me?" His voice is raspy, not at all what a young boy's should sound like. It sends a dizzying sense of wrong down his spine, but he will not, can not, focus. He needs to hear what his teacher says next.

"Yes. You intend to rip the dead away from their land and give them no choice, no guide, for them to go back to whatever peace they have made there. Your immortality has a cost, one that they have to pay."

And he feels the dead crawl all over him. They are screaming in his ears that he has stolen them, taken them. That they have no place to go, and no one to bring them back.

His parents' eyes are sunken and tired, as they ask him why he does it, why he kills in order to bring back those that should not return. " _Please, son, let us die_."))

.

The man shivers, pained from what he has seen while trapped inside of his own head.

Sakura knows that all evil has to come from somewhere. Monsters are never born, and the start of their descent from humanity is usually more painful than any injury. That being said, she did not expect the look of horror that is covered up by the smoke up summons going back to their lairs.

"I do not need special eyes to see through any jutsu you use."

When all is clear again, the man is obviously livid. He does not move from the wires that bind him, but talks slow and with ice cold anger.

"You are a fascinating specimen. I would ask you how you managed this, but I suppose I'll get my answers when I dissect you." The man's veneer is starting to crumble off, like a wet piece of paper being dragged across his face. The man, with his yellow eyes and purple markings, is smiling. It is the grin of someone who knows a secret, one that can break somebody. "This is a sweet revenge, isn't it, I-ta-chi?."

 _("Itachi-nii is definitely the strongest!")_

 _("Itachi._ _You will make a good leader some day.")_

 _("A genius like_ _you wouldn't have a sweet tooth, right Itachi-kun?")_

 _("This is my dying wish, Itachi.")_

 _("Itachi, you were always so gentle. No matter what, we are proud of you.")_

 _("I love you Itachi.")_

She steps back, just for a moment, but that is all the enemy needs to attack. The whizz of a kunai breaks through the silence, and the girl falls.


	21. Rescue

Sasuke is keeping up with the crow, if barely. It keeps squawking at him, and trying to urge him to go faster. Eventually they reach the thick branch of a gigantic tree.

The smell is foul, and darkness covers whatever is making the scent. Black wings merge with the shadows, glinting eyes the only evidence that the crow is still there. Sasuke approaches the blind space with caution; the amount of things hiding in the dark of this forest are immense.

He hears a noise, and a caw that sounds irritated, yet affectionate. There is rustling, and soon enough Sasuke sees what is under the shadows of the leaves.

The idiot is hugging the crow, who somehow manages to convey a roll of the eyes. "Crow-san! You brought Sasuke-teme." Naruto, of course, fails to mention why he is covered in guts and what appears to be stomach acid. The mangled head of a snake nearby sheds some light into that matter, along with the peck marks all along it.

The crow looks him in the eye, and Sasuke remembers to never piss that thing off.

.

"You left her?!" The dobe yells. The volume is enough to make several birds fly away in flocks. None are black birds.

Sasuke is not sure how to respond. He did not like it, did not want to, but he left. He listened to his teammate, the one who reminds him of-

"She said to come get you; I trust her." He thinks about the look on her face, not afraid but resigned all the same. Their sensei's words ring through his head: 'Those who abandon their comrades…'

Sasuke holds a hand out to his friend, helping him get to his feet without slipping on snake-intestines. "She said nothing about what to do after, though." It takes Naruto a second, but when he gets it he nods with enthusiasm.

"I knew you had a heart!"

"Don't push it, dobe."

.

They are rushing through the forest. They do not attempt to be quiet, sacrificing a silence for speed. Most of the Genin here will be put off by the blood covering them and the cloud of death birds that swirl above their heads. The pair must look like they have been through a slaughter. It is disturbing to think about, but useful for now.

In a test like this, nobody wants to face potential murderers who kill for the rush.

.

The trees speed by them, and they are making good time. It is obvious where the battle is going on, if the hissing and smoke is any indication. A small clearing in the forest has turned into a huge one, trees torn down with immense force and huge patches of land upturned.

Except for the white and grey smoke that dissipates into the air, the only ones left in the field are Sakura and the woman she was facing. Upon closer inspection, along with a sly comment from the enemy's real voice, Sasuke realizes that the woman is actually not. A mushy piece of flesh lying in the ground, with eyes still wide open and mouth in a silent scream, show what must have happened to the girl this man is pretending to be.

"-Isn't it, I-ta-chi?" Sasuke sees Sakura's response to that name immediately. Her eyes tear up and she freezes for a second, but a second is more than enough for whoever this man is. In a way truly reminiscent of a serpent, the man's head rears back on an impossibly long neck. He is about to strike the pink haired girl.

" _Nii-san!_ " It is instinct that makes him throw the kunai; impulse and a response to how Sakura was just addressed makes him yell that. Nothing more, Sasuke tells himself.

A thunk is heard, and he sees his kunai hit a broken tree. He also sees the face of something evil and not human rushing towards him. He expects to feel the painful bite of fangs, or maybe the crunch of his own bones, but-

.

"You will not touch him." Sakura's voice is cold. The look in her eyes speak of a warpath that she is willing to follow if she must. The name is still reverberating in her head and wreaking havoc. Normal organized thoughts tumble and scream at her, and it is a confusing and distracting mess. _(Itachi Itachi Itachi, Sakura Sakura, son, daughter)_

She puts all of that on hold though, because before anything else, before anyone else, she is Sasuke's ( _aniki, nii-san, big brother, protector_ ) friend. The hair that she has grabbed is straining under the pressure of her grip versus the snake's pull, so she has to be quick.

The jutsu is simple, one that layers memories into voices and then filters it all until a false mimicry is all that can be heard. A woman's voice, silken and smooth, comes out of Sakura's mouth.

" _Please, son. Stop this, for us_."

The man is in her grip may be a devil, but the way he whispers 'Kaa-san?' is more human than most shinobi are capable of. More than she feels capable of, some nights.

" _Sleep now, my child_." And the monster listens.

.

Sakura whistles, and it is a call that she knows will get an immediate response. It is an alert, one for backup in the case of very powerful enemies. She fishes a scroll out from the clothes on the unconscious man, and finds that is the corresponding one to theirs. It is tucked into her pack with less than a flick of her wrist.

Her teammates look suspiciously at the body, and she can tell they want to restrain him somehow. Sakura just shakes her head, and tells them that moving the missing-nin at all may wake him. That makes both of their faces pale a degree or so, and they jump into the foliage after her.

.

Anko has no clue who sent out the call, but it makes her life much easier and may save the lives of a few contestants. She is worried about it being a trap, but she is careful as she approaches her former sensei. The ANBU behind her tense, as if expecting the boogeyman to pop out.

Like a true professional, Anko takes a stick and pokes the body with it. When it turns into watery mud, she knows that her target is no longer anywhere near.

.

A young man with glasses and almost silver hair gently sets his unconscious master down on the grass.

That was too close.


	22. In Between

"I'll take first watch." The team is in a small space created by overgrown tree roots. Sakura looks exhausted and Naruto will make a fuss about any noise after their encounter, so Sasuke is the one who sits and guards their tiny hideout. He places a few simple, but subtle, traps around the perimeter and is left to his own thoughts.

They will make it to the central tower within the next day, and Sasuke wishes he could sleep on something that doesn't have rocks embedded in it, just waiting to poke him in all the wrong places. This forest has earned its name, for him at least. He saw death coming towards him, and he never wants to again.

Nii-san. He had called Sakura nii-san. The whole situation with her is confusing and messy. She is insane, must be insane, because people do not just turn into young girls. Yet, there is something about her that makes it seem believable.

.

Three people hide in the bushes, waiting for their prey to let their guard down just enough for them to swop in and capture the Uchiha. They cannot believe their luck when the boy takes first watch, tired and just asking to be taken.

"Dosu, Kin, let's wait for ten minutes for the others to fall asleep and then get the boy." He watches as the others nod.

"How Orochimaru-sama didn't get this guy is beyond me. Zaku, we should be a bit more cautious in case they're not weaklings." Kin whispers to her teammates as she watches the group. Honestly, they should know that appearances can be deceiving by now.

"Orochimaru. That is his name… And you three work under him?" The voice behind them sounds amused, and has a bit of a condescending tone.

Oh shit.

.

There are three ninja tied up with the rope that Sakura had scavenged earlier. None of them appear particularly hurt, except for the fact that they are unconscious. It is lucky that they haven't gotten any worse treatment, because Sakura is tired of people doing stupid things like _talking at full volume_ _in the_ _bushes not ten feet away_.

"You were awake?" Sakura turns to the voice. Sasuke is motioning to the empty spot in which she had lain a few minutes ago.

"Yes, it seems I was." She stares at another set of bushes. Riffling through the possessions of the limp bodies in front of her, she takes out a scroll and holds it out. "This is the scroll you need, am I correct?"

.

"Shit." Shikamaru hears Ino whisper this from beside him. She looks nervous, but Shikamaru knows better than to try and talk her down. That tends to end with her hitting him with whatever blunt object is in the vicinity.

"Shikamaru! What are you doing?" Shikamaru is already out of the bushes. He turns to them and points to Sakura. Such a troublesome girl.

"There's no point in stealth if she knows where we are." He sees her nod from the corner of his eye. She tosses the scroll to Ino, who jumps back as it falls at her feet. He can understand how his teammate is so suspicious of the pink haired girl; she is unnerving at times. "It's not a trap. She would have killed us by now if she wanted us dead."

.

Four people are fast asleep underneath the shelter of another tree's roots, while two are awake. One is on lookout, and the other simply cannot fall asleep. They had moved locations after scavenging what they could off of the foreign nin before abandoning them, and Team Ten has decided to tag along with Team Seven. Sakura is munching on a box of Pocky; somehow none of the sticks are broken.

"Itachi." Sasuke whispers this. "He called you Itachi."

"…And you called me nii-san." She speaks softly, and her voice sounds bittersweet to his ears. Sasuke looks at her, and in the dark her profile almost looks like his.

There are no more words spoken for a long while. Then, there is a thump on his forehead. Sasuke looks up to see Sakura with a small smile on her face and her hand extended to poke his forehead. The image aches in its familiarity.

"Go sleep. I will take this shift for you, otouto."

.

 _("Itachi! Please, stop!" She hears the small voice cry out from the building. Sasuke, innocent and chubby cheeked, looks scared. He has tears in his eyes, and she wants to take away whatever is causing him this distress. Then she realizes_ _that she is the one who he is staring at.)_

Sakura wakes up from her dream. She is not sure whether it makes her feel better or worse, attaching names to the people in them.

.

Anko approaches the tied up trio. She had heard another call, and rushed to get here as soon as possible. The three teens that are tied up look like they have been for a while, a day or so. She kneels down in front of them, and licks her lips.

"Hello, maggots."

They shiver, and nobody notices the crow that poofs out of existence from the trees.

.

They arrive at the central tower around noon. For rookies they have made very good time, as it is not even the fourth day yet. Still, nobody feels truly satisfied, especially after their encounters in the forest. Even Team Ten seems frazzled.

As soon as the scrolls are opened, Iruka pops in with the standard smoke wishing around him. He looks happy for all of them, but the pride in his eyes is reserved for Naruto. It reminds Sakura of the way she looks at Sasuke. The meanings of the scrolls are fairly simple, even if over the top in their wording.

.

Taking a shower feels so good. Each team that has finished before the deadline gets a room with three beds and one bathroom. Maybe some would call it cramped, but to a shinobi it is practically a five star hotel.

The dirt of the past few days washes off of Sakura's body in waves. Her hair is long, and out of her standard low ponytail it reaches to her mid back. Sometimes, when she brushes her hands through it, she expects black silk instead of a rough pink.

 _(The way her hair twirls and moves fluidly with her body, almost like a ribbon of midnight trailing behind her, is supposed to_ _be beautiful to watch. She never really saw it and, looking in the mirror, she still does not. But then, beauty is_ _something that she never sees in herself these days.)_

.

The next day is the last one of the second portion of the exam. There are not too many teams in the tower. A few people milling about had come in this morning, but other than that no one. They are called into the arena, and a man who is coughing much too much to be healthy addresses them.

"Not enough teams, so there're no preliminaries." He coughs. "The final stage is in a month."


	23. One Month

Kakashi has a feeling that he knows who alerted the ANBU to the Sound Village's team and Orochimaru's presence. He is glad that Sakura has kept Team Seven safe from danger, but why they were in the first place is concerning.

Orochimaru has specific goals, and obtaining a sharingan is one of them. He will strike again if no progress is made in the investigation of his whereabouts. Being a former ANBU member and an Elite Jounin, Kakashi is assigned to Sasuke. He has to make sure that nobody gets to the boy.

.

"Who are you?" There is more confusion than question in his voice. "The man called you Itachi."

Sakura looks up at him. His eyes are conflicted, torn between the belief that the brother who loves him was, is, real, and the idea that his sadistic brother sent a girl to mess with his head.

"Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Itachi, it does not matter." Her eyes close and she looks peaceful. The lines that run from around her eyes to her cheeks seem to lighten as she speaks. "No matter who I am, I will always be your brother."

She pokes his forehead. He looks away, and does not see her face fall as he does this.

.

The next day there is a stuffed pink dinosaur sitting on his bed. Sasuke does not name it Miss Rawry. And he does not sit it next to an almost identical green one.

.

 _(She sees him, years later. He is older and bitter. His teeth clench as his fist sparks to life. The crackle is familiar, one that her old ANBU captain used._

 _It is worrying, how easy it is to grab her brother's wrist and stop his attack. Her brother needs to learn to not let his rage get the better of him. He gives away any advantage that a close assault would provide by announcing his intent to strike. Loudly._

 _She makes sure_ _that his wrist does not suffer permanent damage, and reminds him of his mission using images from the slaughter that she had made. The large man next to her, blue and grinning with razor teeth bared, follows her as she makes her leave.)_

.

"Kakashi-taichou."

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"The concept of taking a life is not something that many think of until after they already have. And teenagers are notorious for not thinking ahead."

Sakura knows that the lightning technique was Sasuke's most powerful before, but it was also one which he used recklessly. He would use it too often and too rashly, not bothering to realize that it was a fatal attack; not bothering to realize that he kept crawling closer to becoming the monster that he swore to kill. It is all too easy to use an assassination jutsu when one does not know how ghosts can settle into the blood on your hands and seep deep into your bones.

Sakura does not want Sasuke to go down that path, to live that empty life again.

Kakashi looks at her, and he must see something in her expression, because he nods before he turns back to his book.

.

Sakura knows that both of her teammates are being trained by individual instructors. Kakashi had asked if she wanted for him to recommend a tutor, but she declined. She wants to practice the jutsu that she used to use in her old life, and to do that she needs time alone.

That is why she is in the most run down, tetanus filled, abandoned training field she can find. Even Jounin do not tread here. It is a perfect place to practice jutsu that may give away her identity.

It is also a good place to experiment with the almost perfect chakra control that she now possesses. While she could always infuse fire into shuriken, preventing them from melting because of the heat and making them hot as magma, it had always been the whole weapon. In her hands is a shuriken with glowing red patterns, ones that look like veins.

This is something that she can work with.

.

Kakashi has taken Sasuke out to a private place, one where they can train for the month in solitude. There is a small cabin for them to sleep in. He is about to mention the very pink stuffed dinosaur that sits on his cot, but a murderous glare stops him.

His Genin are just adorable.

.

"So, you've been getting along much better with Sakura-chan lately."

"Hn. I guess. She did save us." The grumble comes out quiet, although it does not sound as forced as Kakashi expects from him. The boy is unconsciously toying with the dinosaur. He looks as if he is about to ask him something, but then closes his mouth.

.

"Cool! So you can teach me how to summon animals like Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan?" The boy is jumping up and down, and he almost falls into the hot springs. It's a good thing that he has the presence of mind to water walk; a lot of Genin forget that they can do it and end up soaked.

"Kid, who's this Sakura?" Jiraiya makes his grin lecherous, but he is genuinely curious as to who this Sakura is. As far as he knows none of the major clans have contracts, and Summons don't just follow anyone. They make sure that the person is worthy of their assistance.

"Sakura-chan is my teammate, and she's pretty and cool and she can even beat Sasuke-teme!" Naruto rambles on for a few minutes before he says something remotely of worth. "-Used her crows to rescue me from that old man's big-ass snake!"

Crows. There are not many people that the birds are willing to work for. As far as Jiraiya knows they only work for one man at the moment, but it seems that they have found another worthy summoner. Still, a shinobi that can subdue a sannin and summon crows sounds a lot like a missing nin that he knows is nowhere near Konoha at the moment.

He wants to meet Sakura soon.

.

"-And if your opponent tries to move too much they will end up severing one of their arteries." Kakashi demonstrates the web of ninja wires on a clone. It moves, as if to take a weapon from the pouch on its leg, and suddenly pops out of existence. He had been going to teach Sasuke his signature move, but something in Sakura's eyes had stopped him.

While he is not one to bend so easily, the idea of Sasuke simultaneously cutting and cauterizing a person and being fine afterwards is a bit much. He will have to make his first kill, but to have it be in the form of an assassination technique, a jutsu for the sole purpose of killing, is just going to make it more painful for the boy. Kakashi resolves to teach Sasuke, but only after he knows the boy can handle it. Destroying the last Uchiha loyal to the Leaf's psyche is not something he wants to do, after all.

And Sakura would be royally pissed off at him. He has a feeling that an angry Sakura is dangerous for his health.

.

With Naruto learning to summon and dealing with Hiruzen-sensei, Jiraiya has not had time to look for that Sakura girl. Usually, he would have no problem finding a Genin, but this one has managed to slip through his fingers.

The fact that she apparently regularly treats Naruto to ramen, and is therefore close by much of the time, serves to irk him some more.

He is watching Naruto as he goes into the contestant box, and there is no sign of her. The boy just sits next to a black haired kid with the Uchiha insignia on his back.

Only when the large overhead board reads 'HARUNO SAKURA VS YAMANAKA INO' does he finally see the girl who Naruto is so infatuated with.


	24. My Mind is an Ocean I Cannot Swim

Ino is pumped. Sakura may have seemed cool in the forest, but she is no match for Ino's clan jutsu! Then Sasuke will see that Forehead is not as strong, and he will marry the right girl.

"You'll never be Sasuke's wife!" The girl makes a gagging noise. Who does she think she is? Sasuke is the perfect man, she has no right to look so grossed out.

This pink haired harpy is going down!

.

Sakura is not prepared for a declaration of her unworthiness to be Sasuke's wife. Mostly because she has no intentions of ever being in a romantic relationship with him. She may not be related to him in this life, but she is still his brother. Nope. Nope. _Nope_.

She can see Sasuke spit out a drink, that he has somehow obtained despite a lack of concession stands, from the corner of her eye.

The proctor, a different man this time, just sighs. He has the same look as their old Academy instructor had before he quit; one of exhaustion and being completely done with this teenage bullshit. "Begin."

.

Jiraiya is interested in how this is going to end. When it comes to this type of battle, the Yamanaka should have an advantage; less than a minute of possession jutsu and she can make Sakura quit. Yet, he has his bets on the pink one. She moves like a Jonin.

The Yamanaka, Inoichi's kid, throws several shuriken at the other girl. Sakura dodges, and lands a few feet away. She does not move to attack, even as the other is going through hand seals at a decent pace. When the blonde yells the jutsu, she does not move.

Sakura must want to get caught in Ino's trap. Jiraiya sits a bit straighter in his seat.

.

Sakura feels the chakra manipulate the dirt underneath her. It traps her feet and sinks them into the ground, immobilizing her; she does not bother to break out. Putting up a showy fight will only consume chakra that she feels she will need later. While it is risky, this is the quickest way to defeat Ino, and will not reveal any of her jutsu.

Besides, she wants to test something without a visit to T&I.

That is why, when Ino looks at her through the ring made by her fingers, she does not fight it.

.

Ino is used to scattered thoughts and memories and feelings. Instead she gets a dark sky with red clouds hanging low to the ground. She sees red eyes that belong to a tall figure who is nothing but white chalk outlines against the backdrop of Sakura's mind.

A few faces flicker in front of Ino, and the person in front of her smiles sadly. _"I do not suppose that you can tell me their names?"_ The voice is deep, but she knows she will not remember it once she leaves. She cannot. _"Ah, I guess not. Follow them so that you do not get lost."_

Two crows caw and fly away. Ino follows.

.

Sakura is relieved that she can keep her thoughts private from the Yamanaka clan, and she has no reason to continue this battle. The earthy shackles around her feet retreat as Ino opens her eyes. They are filled with confusion.

She must not remember. Which means that her eyes work, if only in her mindscape.

"Do you wish to battle with me?" Sakura is willing to put up a little bit of a fight if the other wants it. She does feel guilt at using Ino for her own gain; to see if the girl could extract something that has been repressed from her memories. The girl across from her looks dazed, but still shakes her head.

"Winner: Haruno Sakura."

.

Jiraiya wonders what the hell happened. Of course the girl wouldn't do anything that can be outwardly assessed. This is the one of the most frustrating people he has ever dealt with, and he has had to deal with a lot of less-than-sane people.

.

Sakura goes into the contestant box designated for teams from Konoha. Naruto gives her a hearty hug that makes something crack, and Sasuke gives her a nod. He also says something along the lines of 'Thanks for Mis- um, the stuffed animal'.

They are both genuinely glad for her, which makes her feel warm inside. It is so much better than the cold and loneliness of mere months ago. Even Kakashi pats her head.

.

Naruto is kicking Neji around, because it is hard to fight back when your whole cynical worldview is getting thrown off of a cliff by a boy who can only be described as orange. There is conflict and tears and Sakura is honest in wondering if the kid has some sort of bloodline that makes friends out of enemies.

She is cheering for her teammate, and praying for Neji to listen to what is being said to him. Of course, she cannot support her friend without somebody being ominous behind her.

"Jiraiya-san, it is a pleasure to meet you." When Sakura turns to him, she can see that he has his 'no-bullshit' face on.

This is not a man to be trifled with, but he is also one of the few that know of the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. Even if he does figure out who she is, and decides not to check her into a psych ward, he will not necessarily see her as an immediate threat to Konoha.

Still, she does not want her secrets to come spilling out before they even settle inside of her. It had been years since she was born, yet next to nothing has been laid to rest in her mind. She needs her answers before she gives them away.

"You are the Sakura-chan that Naruto likes so much." It is a statement, firm and solid. "I was expecting a Genin." From his face, she can tell that he thought no such thing.

"I am, if only by technicality. But I do not think that is what you have come to me to discuss. Naruto has probably said a lot of things about me, yes?" When the boy gets started he tends not to stop, so Jiraiya probably knows much too much about her. But what he is sure to focus on her actions in the Forest of Death.

"You have a contract with crows. You're powerful enough to fight Orochimaru. And you're eating a stick of Pocky." She knows what he is insinuating.

With the chocolate stick still lightly clenched between her teeth, Sakura nods and makes a peace offering. Jiraiya is polite when he declines the treat.

"What is it that you want to know, Jiraiya-san?" She exhales, but somehow manages to not sound exasperated. "I doubt that Uchiha knows of my existence."

"He's on your team."

"We both know who I am referring to." The ringing of a gong shakes the whole stadium. "But maybe we should wait until these exams are finished?"

She goes off to congratulate Naruto.

.

SABAKU NO GAARA VS. UCHIHA SASUKE

Sakura knows that eventually the redhead will become a great man, a good one who quietly protects his village with all his heart. But right now he is a beast, not able to be tamed. She feels her heart rate pick up, and there is little doubt in her mind that this is one battle her younger brother is not yet ready to face.

The man who Gaara will be does nothing to stop her resolve to stop the battle should it become too much for Sasuke. She shall try not to, but if she must she will kill him to protect her family.


	25. Mother Wants Blood

Sasuke is nervous. The boy in front of him is glaring, more so than usual. He doesn't move, even as Sasuke hides in the trees. Eyes twirl into red as his sharingan activates; the sand that surrounds the boy is not controlled with hand seals, but at least he will know if it is rushing to crush him.

Sand is tricky; it can grind jagged rocks smooth, slide through fingers, and take damage without breaking. Sasuke is forced out of his thoughts when a stream of sand tries to crush him.

He has a plan.

.

The attack is one that hinges on Gaara's lack of strategy and overuse of his power.

The way his eyes can make speed seem to slow down, the way that the sand looks sluggish, those do not lull him into a false sense of security; he knows that even if he sees it coming a blow is still a blow. But if he can manage to make the boy use up most of his sand, enough for the defensive wisps that circle around him to move away, then he may be able to get a good hit in. Considering the scrawny physique of Gaara, it does not necessarily have to be a devastating attack. If he can get the redhead to slip up just once, maybe he can force a snowball reaction; an angry opponent tends to be an unfocused one.

Sasuke rushes around, making sure that the trails of sand become longer as more is used to try and catch him. He has to weave around bludgeons and other weapons crafted from sand, but eventually it gets to the point where most of the sand is spread thin around the arena. For this to work, Sasuke has to hurry. If the opponent gets the chance to recall the sand, he is dead. Literally.

It is almost like running through a sandstorm, but Sasuke does not care about the grit that he can feel entering every pore in his body. He has to make it. His fist is cocked back, an obvious tell that does not matter at the speed he is going at, and he slams it into Gaara's face. The force makes all of the dust kick up even more. Sasuke smirks.

Until he sees the face crack, another layer of sand atop the real skin, and he is lifted up by the very pissed off redhead's sand.

"You will die. Mother wants your blood."

Gaara holds out his hand and squeezes, and everything is covered by the sand.

.

The audience is terrified. Naruto looks like he is about to jump in there himself, and the Jounin are making their way to the boys as soon as they can. But it is too late, as the sand squeezes tighter around the last of the Uchiha loyal to Konoha.

.

Sasuke does not hear the crunch of his own bones, nor the squishing of his internal organs being ruptured. Instead he hears a subtle shifting, like sandals creating traction against gravel, and a thousand birds.

"You foolish- You could have been killed!"

He looks up, just in time to see Sakura yell at him, worry distorting her features and making the lines under her eyes even more pronounced. There are tears pricking in both of their eyes, but he knows he will blame his on the sand. "Wha-?" He manages to ask this, before his voice devolves into ragged coughs. Sakura just hoists him onto her back, making sure that he is holding himself there so that she can use her hands.

Her voice is muffled by the cloth that she has against her mouth, but he can hear her mumbles clearly enough. "Crow substitution." If she is about to say any more, it is interrupted by what looks like a claw of tan with blue veins coming towards them. There is a hushed "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu", and thick, rough glass is all that thuds to the ground.

Sasuke knows that Sakura should not know this jutsu, especially if she is not part of the Uchiha clan, and the grip he has around her tightens.

Sasuke remembers a time, when he bragged to his older brother that he had finally learned to spit out a fireball, that he was finally an almost-adult of the Uchiha clan.

"Thank you…aniki."

.

Well. Kakashi is glad that his student is still in a human form, as opposed to a viscous puddle form. He is not glad that suddenly: crows and one-tailed jinchuuriki and wow isn't that genjutsu just splendid. And Sakura is using jutsu that she should have no experience with, and Sasuke is clinging onto her back for dear life. Looks like Naruto went after the redhead with no eyebrows and a fucking tattoo on his forehead. Here comes a certain sannin who is asking about Sakura, even though out of all of the Konoha 12 she is the most likely to be able to defend herself.

Kakashi needs a break. Preferably right now.

Instead he takes out a kunai and throws himself into the fray. Because he is a good sensei, goddamnit.

.

Sakura knows better than to interfere with the huge battle between Gaara and Naruto; one that will make a good man out of the crazed kid, if she guesses correctly. The taming of the beast correlated with the Chunin Exams in her last life, and it seems like one of those things that only Naruto can succeed in doing.

She will not interfere, but she will make sure that Naruto has enough time to get through to the boy. It pains her to see her village razed to the ground, especially as it is happening. The last time, she was only there to see the fallout.

 _("Ah, such a shame. It was at the height of its prosperity."_

 _"You sound nostalgic for Your birth-village." She can almost feel the smirk on her friend's blue lips. The unspoken question is obvious, but she has a feeling that the man beside her will not care about her answer either way. Still, she errs on the side of caution._

 _"It was just a passing thought."_

 _As long as Sasuke is alright, so is she.)_

She looks for a place to put Sasuke down, one where he won't immediately get stabbed or maimed in some way. It is hard to do, and she can see the others of Gaara's team make their way to where the giant demon tanuki is headed. Shit.

Then, as if hearing her thoughts, Sasuke speaks to her. "If you're gonna help the dobe, you better bring me along too."


	26. Betrayal At The Hands of Another

Temari and Kankuro do not want to go anywhere near the hulking beast that is Gaara. When every time somebody sleeps they become a sand monster, most people are smart enough to get away from that situation. But teammates are supposed to stay together and siblings have unconditional love, blah blah blah. Either way, the two siblings realize that they are going to get an ass-whooping, and at least with this way they do not have to listen to Baki-sensei's nagging.

He is like an irate grandmother, and there have been nightmares involving him using a purse to violently bash an enemy's head in.

Kankuro has no clue as to what they are even doing, but he assumes that Temari has a plan. Because there is no way that they are going to distract Gaara until their sensei comes to the rescue.

"We just have to keep that Uzumaki kid from doing any permanent damage to Gaara." Kankuro is about to argue that there is no way the orange kid is going to do jackshit to their brother; he is almost undefeatable, and a Genin sure as hell can't take him-

And then a huge toad comes out of nowhere. And it poofs into smoke and becomes a giant nine-tailed fox. Well, shit.

.

"You can let go, you know." Sasuke is still clinging to the back of his (brother?) teammate. Sakura just deadpans back at him.

"It's faster this way. Besides, you exerted a lot of energy in the fight." He relents, and squeezes a little tighter.

.

"Who are you?" Kankuro is forced to stop by a girl who is carrying a boy on her back. He exchanges a glance with Temari, who nods. It doesn't seem like he will have much of a fight here, and his sister has long range attacks that will be more effective than his puppets against Gaara.

She rushes past the trio. Nobody notices somebody else following her.

.

"Are you, uh, gonna put him down?" The boy across from Sakura points to Sasuke and makes a 'dropping' motion. He also uses the motion to help conceal a quick switch with his puppet. Sakura adjusts Sasuke on her back, but does not put him down.

"Nope."

 _Flicker behind, tear open bandages, block attack and cast genjutsu. Burn puppet._

.

Kankuro is surprised when the girl bypasses Karasu, but he has his kunai and it's dipped in poison. He stabs at her as soon as she gets through the cloth wrapped around him.

((Her throat bubbles and blood pours out. Momentum keeps moving him forward, until he is almost kissing her.))

And then he isn't. His aim is just a bit off, less than an inch off, but it is enough for the weapon to just pass her ear without cutting it. She smiles, before hitting his temple with the handle end of a kunai.

.

There is the sound of crows flying off, and Sakura hums to herself. She is jumping from branch to branch, in pursuit of the oldest of the three Suna-nin. "Looks like I won."

The dirty-blonde girl just ahead of her must know that she is being followed by now. It is confirmed when she suddenly turns around and uses her fan to mold the wind into blades that try to slice at the pair.

"What did you do to Kankuro?!" Sakura can feel the protectiveness that only elder siblings have emanating from her; she is not so cruel as to let the other girl think that her brother is dead.

"The worst he has is a concussion, and even that is unlikely." The relief that the girl feels is revealed by the relaxation of her shoulders.

Sakura can empathize, in her past life whenever she thought that Sasuke was in danger it felt like her purpose in life was also. It makes sense, her brother was _(and still is)_ what matters most to her.

She makes sure to catch Temari before she hits the ground.

.

"How do you do that?" Sasuke is leaning against a tree, finally allowed to be on his feet again. He points to the two unconscious bodies that Sakura has huddled together. "And why aren't you tying them up?"

"Genjutsu affects the mind, and teenagers are not known for their stability. It is fairly simple to put them under an illusion." He cannot help but look into her eyes, expecting them to be red as opposed to her jade green. They are as green as they have always been. "And I am not restraining them, because Gaara is going to need people there for him when this is over."

.

The both of them just awkwardly stand there until the rampaging stops and Naruto starts hugging Gaara. "Kai." As soon as it is spoken, both of the unconscious teens awaken. Before they can even attack, Sakura pins them with a certain glimmer in her eyes. "He needs you to help him keep his demon away."

She knows that demon is different than saying demons; the singular means that she knows about a certain one, instead of the several that the mind itself makes.

They move towards the mess of broken trees, and in the middle lie the two jinchuuriki. There is a nod of understanding before both parties leave.

.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is dead, and Sakura curses her lack of knowledge. She knows that the culprit is long gone by now, so she just holds onto her loved ones and hopes that they can piece the village back together again.

.

The need to find a new Hokage is urgent. Sakura knows that she can either stay in the village, or wriggle her way into the quest for the Godaime.

 _("You do not have enough hatred to ever defeat me."_

 _She does not want him to abandon his home and become Orochimaru's plaything, nor for him to turn against his own home. But her wants do not change the fact that those words are the last straw that will break him.)_

She stations her summons around Konoha, and goes to see if Jiraiya will take her along with them.

.

"It's so cool that Sakura-chan can come!" Naruto is cheering and hopping about like a madman. Sakura knows that the only reason she is being allowed on this mission is so that Jiraiya can keep an eye on her. The way he glances at her so clinically makes it no secret that he is suspicious of her and her intentions. If things go the way that they had before, she is sure that feeling will only increase; it is worth it, if she can make sure that the catalyst for the end does not happen.

.

Kakashi is Sasuke's watchdog now. He was honestly hoping that Sakura could assist him with the Uchiha, as the boy could be independent to the point of stupidity, but that is not going to happen now. She's off on a quest to help recruit the new Hokage.

Now Kakashi is in charge of the boy. And it is really hard to keep somebody safe when you are called as backup to fight his S-rank missing-nin brother.

.

Sasuke is glad that Kakashi is nowhere to be found, so he can finally have some time to deal with things on his own. Things such as the fact that his teammate may actually be his brother. And that, if she is, there is a whole lot of information that he is missing about everything. Especially his clan.

.

Kakashi may not have thought this out too thoroughly. But he had to do something before Itachi killed Asuma and Kurenai, and having a sharingan gave him an advantage that they do not have. He assumed that he could at least partially defend himself against the elder Uchiha's glare. He was wrong.

Which is why now he can only gasp out a question. "Why did you come here?"

The man speaks softly, and the tone is familiar. "…The kyuubi boy." He turns to the taller, and pauses as if waiting for something, before giving his command. "Do what you will with them."

.

...And then Might Gai appears, like a lone leaf flying against the wind. Or something poetic like that.

.

"We should go. This man will only make more trouble than we can afford, and fighting backup shinobi is counterproductive." It is spoken matter of factly, and the logic is sound. The large, blue man is about to complain a bit before leaving, but something screeches at him before he can even respond to Itachi's comment.

Black feathers fly as the thing calls more of its kind to make a scene and create a protective shield around the fallen Leaf nin. He looks over at his partner, wondering if this is some sort of strange tactic, but for once the stoic face is something other than calm and composed. Itachi looks genuinely confused.

"The nine tails is not here. We should leave." The 'right now' is only implied.

.

Sasuke hears that his teacher is in the hospital while trying to buy a whetstone from an ornery shopkeeper. The man tells him that he should be visiting 'that Hatake boy' at the hospital, and the sharpening tool is forgotten in his rush to see if his sensei is alright.

.

There are murmurs coming from inside the hospital room, and Sasuke eavesdrops from the hallway. He manages to catch phrases here and there, but not much else; what he does hear makes his blood feel ten times heavier, as if it will get caught in his veins and his heart.

"-Itachi-" "-almost killed Kaka-" "He's gotten scarier." "-fter Uzumaki-"

The first thoughts that flicker through his mind are of Sakura, and then (" _He's_ gotten scarier.") how it could not have been her that attacked Kakashi; she isn't even in the village. If Itachi is here, then Sakura must be working for him. Sasuke thinks himself a fool for ever believing that she could ever be somebody who is still alive.

The cold burning that has been slowly dwindling in his heart comes roaring back. He will make sure that they realize what a bad idea it is to lie and deceive him. (And to get him to trust that his brother loved him again, before tearing that trust down.)

He will find them. He doesn't know exactly what he plans to do, but he cannot just sit and do nothing.


	27. Jade in My Eyes

"So. You managed to melt the sand of a tailed beast into glass." Jiraiya does not bother the censor himself. She knows what the boy is, he is sure of that, and wasting words is something that he has learned not to do in his travels. "And you used an Uchiha technique to do so."

"As you have said, I am in a team with Sasuke. We train together." She pops a stick of Pocky into her mouth and puts the box wherever it is that she keeps her mass storage of them. Naruto is also munching on some.

Jiraiya wonders if this is a show of how she can get things by him undetected, or if she is just being quietly obnoxious.

.

Sakura cannot help but feel nervous. There is a chance that this whole trip will end with her in a prison cell somewhere, but more importantly Sasuke's path in life may be decided in the next few days.

If nothing she has done changes her brother's fate, then there is no reason for her existence. That thought terrifies her.

.

"Argh! I can't believe that perv went chasing after some lady!" Naruto is pissed off, and he saunters up to the clerk behind the desk. He slaps Jiraiya's wallet down, and demands another room. "There is no way that I'm letting him share a room with you! He can pay for an extra room if he thinks he can just ditch us."

Sakura would usually tell him that, as much of a peeping tom as he is, Jiraiya would never try anything like that, and that she is perfectly capable of handling herself. Now though, she knows that something big is happening soon. She can practically feel the steps she has taken before, heading ever closer to the inn.

"We should head to our room." She snatches Naruto's hand before he can even fish out the money to give for the extra room. He complains, but Sakura is determined not to have anything too violent effect innocent civilians. "We can prank Jiraiya later, okay?"

Liking this deal, Naruto nods. "Okay, Sakura-chan!"

.

Sasuke realizes that the others in the village must realize he is missing by now. He has no family to report him missing, but he knows that he is kept track of. His eyes are worth more than any gem, as they are the only set left in Konoha. The last set that is contained by a nation.

Sasuke is no fool, and he knows they are coming to get him. He just needs to be quick enough to get to his brother and the imposter.

He hears the call of a crow, clear and menacing. Where the bird flies so does his brother.

.

"Your bird is still after us."

It caws, increasing in volume with each step that they make. It is also good at dodging kunai.

"It is not my bird. The crow is following the commands of another."

Except, there are no other names on the contract, for the living at least; he had checked just after they left Konoha.

.

Sakura is pacing around, hoping that her brother does nothing foolish. Hope being the key word, because she knows that, when he is caught in emotions, only luck will get him out of whatever situation he creates for himself.

She feels herself, or her former self, approaching the doorway. "Naruto. Hide."

There is a knock.

.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The voice is young and sweet, as is the girl who says it. Her hair is in a low ponytail that she twirls around her finger. Something about her feels more dangerous than any of the shinobi that Itachi has faced so far. Large bright green eyes flicker to each member of the duo. "Do you have the wrong room? This one does not have a king si-"

"Where is the kyuubi child?" The veneer of innocence drops off of the girl like a predator freshly hatched: a true beast emerging from inside the thin shell. She sighs, as is this whole ordeal is just a huge inconvenience, and reaches for her kunai.

Itachi's sharingan spirals to life, hoping to track the motion and dodge, but the rest of the world slows down without the girl. Her movements are still fast, too fast for most eyes, and almost for his. He wonders how she manages not to be effected, when everything else is.

He puts on an arrogant grin, which never ceases to feel strange on his face.

"Interesting." There is movement from inside and a boy comes rushing at him. "Kisame. Take care of the boy. I want to see what this one is capable of."

.

"Itachi, you need to move your birds!" Kisame needs a to get to the kid, and he knows that Itachi will be pissed off if he kills any of his summons. One dives at him and comes close to taking his eye out. "At least tell them to stop attacking me!"

"They will not harm you too badly, so long as you do not harm Naruto." The tone is familiar, always too calm and collected for the situation, but the voice is different. It is younger and high pitched; it is not Itachi.

.

Sakura can see Itachi's eyes widen. It is almost imperceptible, but she knows herself and can recognize the subtle movements. Their eyes meet, a battle of blood and emeralds, and both still so as to examine one another.

She is fairly sure that, if it comes to blows, she and Naruto will make it out alive. There is too much pain inside of her for her to let any other outcome come to pass. Her flock stays around Naruto, even as she can see Itachi try to release the summoning. Sakura has been with them longer, even if most of that time was as Itachi.

"I _know_ about the truth."

.

Itachi knows that his eyes are spiraling into the pattern of his mangekyo sharingan, and in the moment of panic that her words cause he sends out a sputter of black flame. He tries to undo it because he doesn't want to kill an innocent person, an innocent child ever again.

But before he can do anything, the fire fizzles out as soon as it touches her skin. Judging by the look on her face, she has no idea how this is possible either.

"The flames that never go out until they have burned whatever they touch to ash." The girl whispers this, all while looking at her arm in amazement. When he moves to incapacitate her, she moves just out of his reach. "You did not get the chance to revoke them, either."

.

Sasuke does not need directions to know where they are. The sound of crows and the pressure of powerful chakra guide him to his destination. He turns the corner, and sees the two traitors talking quietly.

"You! You're not my brother! How stupid do you think I am?" He takes a ragged breath. "You can't be him, not if he's right here."

.

Sakura wilts at the hurt in his eyes. "Otouto-"

"You have no right to call me that." His words are cold and seething, and just a little bit heartbroken. "And neither do you." He motions in Itachi's direction.

"Foolish little brother, I have the right to call you whatever I want. Unless you believe you can defeat me?" There is a smirk on that elegant face, and it makes Sasuke want to slap it off. He charges at his brother, because he must be the leader of this little farce, and gets kicked into a wall.

It was so easy for Itachi to do, and Sasuke feels pathetically weak. "You do not have enough hate." Itachi starts walking towards him; slow, as if he has all the time in the world.

.

Shit. Sakura curses herself for being so stupid back then. She tries to go to the man, before something irreversible takes place, but is stopped by a large blue hand.

"Not so fast, little girl." Kisame grins down at her, having given up trying to penetrate the wall of crows to focus on her. She does not have the time for this; Itachi is gliding down the hallway, and she needs to get there quickly. "I don't- _Ow_ , what the hell?!"

Sakura makes sure to mouth a thank you at Naruto, who is clinging to Kisame with his teeth cutting through the gill-like markings on his shoulders.

"Mangekyo-" Sasuke looks so scared, and so angry, and so out of time. She dives for him, trying to get herself between the two.

.

"-sharingan." Everything is black.


	28. The Truth

((Sasuke feels like his skin he is in is too tight, about to rip open and spill his insides everywhere; he feels like his bones are loose, jangling together in a macabre rhythm. He feels small and he feels weak.

The sky outside is red, and the clouds fly past. It is almost as if the room is speeding away, while up above is what actually stays stationary. Inverted colors that somehow only appear as grey and white and black make up the room, and it is a room that he recognizes.

"N-no…" The whimper is weak, and it sounds pathetic to his ears.

The image of his parents are suddenly there, even though they have been for all the time since he has arrived. There is no now or then or will be, not in this place. A figure emerges from the shadows, katana ready to cut.

" _No! Nii-san, please."_ He sobs, but he cannot help but close his eyes as the blade goes ever closer to his parents.

"This is to remind you of your purpose, to become stronger so that someday you may be worthy of a battle with me."

His eyes are forced open, and Itachi-))

.

((-Slices through them mercilessly as they beg him not to. His eyes are cold, with just a glint of malice and calm satisfaction hidden in there. Something akin to both a smirk and a scowl dance upon his lips. This clan, the most powerful, has fallen to one man. And it was all too easy. He licks his lips like a sleek predator after a particularly gratifying kill.

His parents should have suffered more, just because they were too weak to put up a halfway decent fight. But he should move soon enough, unless he wants to deal with even more annoyances before he leaves the village.))

 _((-Shakes, his hands barely able to hold on to his weapon. He doesn't want to do this, he never wanted to take an innocent life, but he knows that it is better he go to hell than every member of his clan. He will let them die, a proud clan of Konoha guilty only of their own hubris._

 _But this is a whole new pain, one he has to bear. 'Sasuke, if I don't do this, they will-' He cannot think about it._

" _Mother, father…"_

" _We understand. Even though we stand on different sides, I am proud of you." Guilt, oh god the guilt. 'They still love me, even though I have to-' Itachi sniffles. He feels pathetic and useless. "Just promise me this."_

" _Anything."_

" _Take care of Sasuke."_

" _Always."_

" _You truly are a gentle child, Itachi."_

 _Those are the last words spoken between father and son.))_

(("N-nii-san?"

"Pathetic. You are not worth the effort it would take to kill you." This stupid child has been holding him back for so long. The urge to kill the brat is strong, but he should save his energy for more worthy opponents. At least he doesn't have to pretend to give a shit about the kid anymore.

Sasuke flings a kunai, and it brushes the hitai-ate just enough for it to clatter on the ground. Ah, well. It is going to get slashed through anyways.

All that is left afterwards is a little boy amidst the bodies of his loved ones, his family. It is a sorry sight indeed, and it leaves Itachi oh so satisfied.))

 _(("N-nii-san?"_

' _Oh god no. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. Mother, father, I have already broken my promise, haven't I?' His eyes turn black, just for a second as he gathers himself for the act he is about to play. He hates it, he does not want to, but he must. Sasuke should live without the knowledge of the Uchiha's betrayal on top of their deaths._

" _Pathetic. You are not worth the effort it would take to kill you."_

 _When a kunai hits his hitai-ate, he picks it back up. He knows he does not deserve to wear it any longer, but he must in order to pull off his facade. Sasuke managed to almost hit him. 'You really are improving, Sasuke. You're going to be a great shinobi someday.' He lets himself feel a small sense of pride for his brother._

 _It is something that he will never be able to experience again, not in the true way that brothers do. He is not strong enough to hold the tears in, but he cannot let Sasuke see that._

 _All that is left afterwards is a little boy amidst the bodies of his loved ones, his family. It is a sight that will haunt Itachi until the day he dies, and it is the last thing he sees before he turns his back on his home forever._

 _But he will learn to live with this, with the knowledge that someday he will die and his otouto will be the one to kill him, to keep him living just a bit longer.))_

.

Sasuke can see, can _feel_ the emotions, the thoughts, everything. The dizzying grey and red of this place battle with a solid black that has only white chalk lines to fill out the objects in the room, almost like a crude drawing. The memories overlap, and he does not know what, or who, to believe: the raw emotions of a crying Itachi and the cold and calculating stare of the psychopath he remembers.

The most logical choice is the one that showed no mercy, because who else but an evil madman would kill every person, every child, in their family. He remembers how distant Itachi was towards the end, and it just fits. Of course he was going to do something totally insane. Itachi has to be a villain, right? He has to be.

But- no, he remembers tears. At the time he had thought it was just his own blurring his vision and making him see things, but- what if he wasn't remembering wrong? What if Itachi...?

.

"I Love you, otouto. And I will love you always." And Sasuke looks up to see his brother. "I am so sorry." He is engulfed in a hug, and can feel tears dampening his shirt.

"Who are you." The tone is not one of question, but of demand; it is Itachi's voice.

.

There are two.

One is younger, his eyes flickering with something close to panic in his red eyes. He is trying to compose himself, because he needs Sasuke to hate him. He needs Sasuke to end him, because he is too much of a coward to do it himself.

The second is older, but not by much. This one, although only slightly older, is much wiser. He looks more ragged, but also more at peace. The face is of somebody who has glimpsed the Pure Land and been redeemed of his sins. Somebody who wants to live, if not for himself then for his family, his loved ones.

(The second is younger, her eyes jade against a pale face and framed in pink. There is too much experience in her the quirk of her smile for her to be anything less than a child of war. Still, second chances and little brothers comfort her, as she dreams of days that have gone by and days that may still come to pass.)

.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi." The older one speaks, calmly but with the hint a familiar playful tone. He is standing in front of Sasuke, letting the boy see what is going on and still protecting him. "My name is also Haruno Sakura. I can only assume you are also me?"

The elder Itachi, Sakura, turns around. Somehow, both the younger Itachi and Sasuke end up facing him, and they can only watch as his eyes turn red and swirl around and around.


	29. Confusion

Jiraiya arrives, just in time to help Naruto from getting his extremities cut off by a rogue swordsman. He notices the blood around his mouth and the bite marks on the scowling shark guy in front of him. It honestly reminds him of a fiery redhead that was a feral and downright terrifying combatant; she would be so proud of her boy.

After summoning a toad to make sure that the brat still has all of his limbs, Jiraiya takes a look around. The place is actually in decent shape for a battle involving two S-rank missing nin, as in it's not completely and irreparably wrecked. Although, he thinks as he glances towards the countless crows, there is going to be a ton of bird shit to clean up.

.

Kisame is fucking done with this whole day. He couldn't wreck havoc in Konoha because their target was here and then Itachi's birds decided to go haywire and rebel. Now there is a pissed off looking sannin, with a genjutsu-induced lady over one shoulder. He says something about feminine wiles and his gallantry, but a loud thud interrupts the tense confrontation.

At the end of the hall, where Itachi had kicked his brother and that girl took a suicide dive to protect the younger Uchiha, two figures slump. Who is left standing is what makes the situation seem impossible.

"Hell yeah! I told you she could beat your creepy guy any day of the week! Sakura-chan, teach me how you did that, pleeaase?!" A crow lands on the boy's shoulder and pecks at his head, causing him to whine. "But Crow-san…!"

.

Sakura is glad that she was able to manipulate the jutsu enough for her mindscape to override it just enough for her purposes, but the lack of actual effect that the sharingan has against her is interesting. She suspects that it is the only reason she was not swept up in the tidal wave that is Itachi's ultimate genjutsu. How she is able to do this is something that she wants to test later; now, she has to take care of her younger brother and younger self.

"I was so naive." Sakura cannot help but sigh this, because she truly was back then. "Karasu no bunshin." Sakura has no reason to hide her clones anymore, considering the crows that she has used today and before, in the exams. The clone appears before her, and it nods; it knows what to do. It helps her takes the unconscious bodies off to the side, before they get stepped on.

.

Well. Jiraiya has a feeling that he somehow missed most of the action. Hoshigaki seems to be confused also, so at least he can be fairly certain that this is not some sort of strange trap. He is pretty sure that the crows here are going to do no harm to him or Naruto, considering 'Crow-san' is playfully pecking at the boy and trying to preen his hair. It gives him a dirty look though, and it squawks.

"I do not think that it is wise to continue this battle, especially for you Kisame-san. You are at a three-to-one disadvantage." The pink haired girl is walking towards them, dispersing her clone into dozens of birds that settle around the figures that she has lain down. "Perhaps we should settle down and discuss this situation calmly?"

Jiraiya has the urge to tell her that _she_ is basically 'the situation' at this point. Instead, he just sighs and follows her to their room.

.

Jiraiya makes Kisame leave his sword in the bathroom. Then they all manage to lug the two dead weights inside the room that they have rented for the night. It is not nearly a big enough space to comfortably fit three kids and three adults, one of which is a huge shark man. A clone under a henge brings the knocked out girl to the front desk, because nobody wants to explain that one.

They sit, squished together and glare at one another. Sakura seems to be the only one who is not wary of either party. She knows that neither are going to hurt her without provocation, especially with Itachi down and out. Although, it must look odd for her to be so comfortable around such a high ranking missing-nin. "I am not exactly a normal, for lack of a better term, Genin."

Jiraiya nods. "Not to mention that _sharingan no Kakashi_ seems to think you were in ANBU at some point." Sakura wonders how Jiraiya has gotten that impression from Kakashi. She knows the man is too respectful of his former position to openly talk about others that have been in ANBU, unless the circumstances are dire. Then again, the pervert in front of her _is_ a spymaster.

"I think it may be best to wait until those two wake up." In all honesty, she does not want to have to explain herself twice. But it seems that she must, because the two men give her a look that conveys exactly how impatient they are for an explanation. "You will not believe me until those two are awake to confirm my words, or at least confirm the events that have taken place."

.

Itachi wakes up feeling mostly rested, if not for his splitting headache, which is not helped by the chatter that surrounds him.

"We should lower our voices; Itachi-san is awake." The voice is light, in contrast to the confusing din of the rest of the room. He recognizes it, but only in tandem with a voice identical to his. It belongs to the one who broke and manipulated his Tsukuyomi, who has eyes that are exactly the same as his own.

He blinks his eyes open, and instead of himself all he sees is a little girl, one whose eyes are the literal opposite of his own red hues. The smile on her face is soft, and it is one he has forgotten how to make years ago.

.

"How did you have my eyes?" Itachi asks in a calm voice. His mind however, is in a panic, trying to explain to himself how that girl could mimic him in his illusion. "Every mangekyo sharingan has a different pattern, and you aren't even an Uchiha."

"I was an Uchiha, before I was born as a Haruno Sakura." Itachi is about to call her a liar, but he remembers what happened in his genjutsu. She knew all of his feelings and thoughts from that night; things that he has never spoken of to anybody.

"Who were you, then?" He cannot help the slight question in his usually monotone voice. It is truly unbelievable; even _if_ reincarnation and past lives exist, one does not simply remember it.

The girl looks sad, yet with that glimmer of hope for better things to come. "I think you have an idea already; I _did_ tell you, after all." Itachi knows that his theory is ridiculous, but the pink one makes sense in a way also. Because, in those few black and white moments that dragged on for hours, it felt like she was better Itachi than himself.

"Uchiha Itachi." He says this in an even more quiet tone than his usual. The soft sound does nothing to muffle the impact it has on the room. "You were me."

.

Jiraiya understands what is being said, the problem is in comprehending how it is even conceivable. Because, unless Orochimaru is involved, people do not just _switch_ bodies; and even if there was a way, Itachi cannot be two separate beings of consciousness.

He needs a drink.

.

"Sasuke is probably the one who can help the most in understanding my situation." Sakura knows she is too used to the idea of her dual lives to address it without leaving things, that she feels are obvious, out. Itachi is looking at her, and she knows that he is assessing if she is a danger to their brother or not.

It is almost dizzying, seeing herself as she was before; she was him, but he has never been her. They are different people, especially now that something extremely different than in her past life has happened, diverging their paths.

She will keep reminding herself that; she has two younger brothers to take of now.

.

"Aniki." Sakura can feel a hand close around her shoulder, as Sasuke pulls himself from his awkward half hugging position on her lap. "I forgive you." He quickly wakes up fully, a skill ninja must have, and observes the room. His gaze zeros in on Itachi, who is sitting up much too straight. " _Nii-san_?"


	30. Three Brothers

The crows, the skillset, and the Uchiha clan's signature jutsu. The lines under her eyes, the smile that never turns into a grin, yet manages to convey just as much emotion, and the deadly grace in which she handles herself. The way that she never refers to Kakashi as sensei, only as taichou.

It all points to what she is saying, but Jiraiya is a spy and knows that with enough effort it is possible to mimic somebody almost perfectly. The problem with that theory is how she has, according to the Academy teachers, kept this up for years.

There are some things that he cannot explain though, especially how she could manipulate Itachi's jutsu and seemingly bypass the sharingan's techniques. He is almost certain that a genjutsu of some sort made the two Uchiha collapse, and that should be nigh impossible.

.

Itachi will admit that it stings a bit, the way his brother calls somebody else _aniki_ with the same amount of affection as he had received, before the massacre. But the words of forgiveness and the fondness with which the girl looks at Sasuke (a look that he knows, that he has worn before) make it hard for him to feel any bitterness.

.

"I think I have a way to see if she is telling the truth."

A summon will never work for somebody that has not signed their contract; they can tell the very essences of people apart, which is why even if Sakura was in a different body with his soul, they would still follow her. He summons a single crow, a very specific one. It comes into existence hidden by a cloud of smoke, and on its leg is a small scroll. He takes it off of the bird, although it is still connected by a golden chain to the crow, and unfurls it.

"There is no Haruno Sakura here." He holds out the paper for all to examine. There are many names on the paper, but nobody named Haruno Sakura. And even if there had been, all but one name have been distorted by the death of the shinobi. 'Uchiha Itachi' sits alone, still unmarred by an imprint of a crow's foot, at the bottom of the page.

The crow points its beak at the name, and then in Sakura's direction before giving an affirmative caw.

.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Jiraiya mumbles to himself. Naruto puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, which he has to strain to do, even with the sannin sitting down. He silently curses his small stature.

"Sakura-chan is just too awesome, so this guy has to be a _little bit_ cool. If he wasn't, it wouldn't make sense for him to evolve into Sakura!"

"...Kid, who taught you about how human beings work?"

"Mizuki."

.

Sasuke has no idea what, exactly, is going on, but he does know that Sakura is Itachi, except older, and that Itachi is here. And innocent.

It's strange, but he is glad that he has his big brother back, and that their love was never an act. He has had Sakura as a brother for a while now, and Itachi has been absent for a lot of his life; it is easy for him to see them as two different older brothers. Apparently, it is not as simple for everyone else.

"It's true. I believe her."

Sasuke remembers how hard she tried to be there for him, ever since they met. He remembers how scared he was of the affection, and how terrified he was of her in general. She had reminded him too much of Itachi, which now makes perfect sense.

He had hated her, but now he is certain she is the reason he is so accepting of Itachi right now.

.

"Kisame-san, I will tell you right now that truth is too subjective for there to be a world of truth. Not without the world itself being a lie." The girl looks him straight in the beady eyes. It is unnerving, especially with how close to home her words hit. Although it does make sense that she would know, considering the unbelievable truth that Kisame cannot quite comprehend yet. Her voice sounds so convinced when she speaks."You are a decent man."

Kisame was a loyal ninja before the betrayal of his fellow swordsman, but he has never considered himself a man who could be called _decent_. It is surreal to see a stranger speak with the kind of conviction only a good friend can muster. He sighs; he knows what this girl is getting at. "As long as I don't get executed."

.

Sakura knows that Itachi will be of more help inside the village rather than slowly dying outside of it. The years of using shoddy medicine with needles that, while unused, were not sterile, had taken a toll on her body; she knows that Itachi needs a great healer before he poisons himself in an effort to live, like she had.

 _(Her dying moments are blurry, and she wishes that she could just see his face clearly, one last time.)_

He deserves to see their brother, to be able to see him grow into a man. She knows that her wish is partly selfish; she was him, after all.

.

"So. What do we do from here?"

The question hangs thick in the air. Nobody says anything for a moment, then Itachi speaks up. "A change in regime is when it is the easiest to stir up turmoil. My presence would just-"

"No." Sakura gives him a _look_. "I am not letting you get caught up in some suicide mission, not when it can be avoided." She knows how he thinks _(how she thought)_ , and how utterly ready to die he is right now. How ready he had been since he killed the clan.

Her voice is resolute, and she has all the authority of an ANBU captain packed into it. "You are my brother now, too. It is my job, as your nii-san, to protect both you and Sasuke." She leans over and pokes him in the forehead, smiling as she does so. "Do not do anything foolish, otouto."

ALSO:

SOMEBODY DID FANART, AND IT IS GLORIOUS.

kitsu13 . deviantart / art / Looking-Out-636807898


	31. There Isn't Enough Sake in the World

Nobody can deny that bringing Itachi home will cause problems if handled incorrectly. The political machinations behind the massacre will cause unease, and inviting a missing-nin back into the village is beyond taboo. There is too much potential for mistrust to build, and both Sakura and Itachi know where that leads.

But a new Hokage taking up the role of leader and cutting away the rotten parts of their village, while bringing back a man who was made a martyr as a child? With a spin like that, people will come to arms against the common enemy.

The Will of Fire burns at its brightest when burning together, after all.

.

" _Him?_ " Jiraiya looks worried, and it is understandable. There is no way in which he can be comfortable with sending a child to fight against that man alone. "You don't think that you can confront him alone, do you?"

Sakura looks as calm as ever. "Sasuke, can your sharingan follow me?" The boy shakes his head. He has had his ass handed to him in far too many spars to not notice the way she was always a pace ahead of his eyes. It used to scare him to not be able to use his best weapon against somebody who he, at the time, thought was a potential enemy. Sakura nods, expecting this answer. "And, Itachi's black flames did no harm to me."

"And? He's not an Uchiha."

"He took Shisui's eye. And I highly doubt he would hand it over to a subordinate."

.

The next day they get a lead on the third sannin's whereabouts. The town that their new Hokage is supposedly staying in, according to a certain person that Jiraiya knows but cannot mention for security reasons, is only a few miles away. They pack up and leave as soon as possible.

.

Tsunade is trying to enjoy herself as much as she can these days, but some deity has something against her. Because just when she is about to take a bite of her lunch, she feels a familiar presence behind her.

"Tsunade-" She does not turn to the man who is speaking to her, but she knows who he is. She has heard that voice many times through the years. Most of the time asking about her boobs.

"I'm not interested, Jiraiya."

"The Leaf, it needs you." The quiet voice is high pitched, but does not have the shrill quality that oftentimes accompanies it. In fact, it is light and soothing, but with the potential to turn into cold daggers. It is also the voice of a child, one who has experienced many battles and won them in the most pyrrhic sense.

Tsunade thought that Konoha was _done_ with shoving child prodigies out of the nest before their time. Especially after what happened with the last one.

She turns around, ready to ask why her former teammate is now lugging some child with him, when a voice that is much too sober stops her. "Hiruzen-sensei is dead, Tsunade. We need to talk."

.

They walk at a slow pace to the room where they are supposed to have their meeting. There is a tension in Jiraiya when he is near the girl; one that he does not show even when around S-rank criminals. Tsunade also feels wary around her. It is not for fear or doubt of her intentions, but there is something in her eyes that does not match up with a face so young.

Jiraiya, after a minute or so, elbows the girl and gestures at Tsunade. The pink haired girl raises an eyebrow at him, in a way that only a few can do. The silent argument must be won by the girl, because he sighs in a kind of resignation that people tend to direct _towards_ him.

"Before we talk, I'm gonna need to introduce you to some, uh, people."

.

Sakura watches in amusement, as Jiraiya tells an increasingly pissed off Tsunade not to start punching things and to just let him explain. It looks more like Tsunade is going to punch him but, despite that, she lets out a huff and nods. The girl who has been silently trailing after them shares a meaningful look with her pig. All around everybody except for Sakura seems nervous.

"I assure you that my little brothers will not harm you." She hears Jiraiya snort at the word 'little'. She gives him the _look_ and he quiets down, but does not seem pleased about it. "Even if they are intimidating at first."

"Intimidating? I don't think that too many kids under twelve are intimidating."

.

Itachi will admit that he is taking being on the other side of the forehead poke much better than he thought he would. It is calming, to be able to depend on somebody, to not have the weight of the world on his shoulders alone. And, he knows there is somebody out there that cares about Sasuke as much as he does.

"You're taking to this whole situation-"

"-Like a fish to water?" Naruto finishes the sentence that Kisame started. Somehow, the boy has gotten into a one sided pun war with the large man. Everybody is pretty sure that they can trace it back to Sakura and her fishcake cracks. Itachi wonders how she even managed to get that sense of humor; he suspects it has to do with hitting her mid thirties. Or puberty. Either one is a possibility.

.

"Well, Sakura here is..." Jiraiya struggles to find a word. "...Unique. And one of her 'younger' brothers happens to be a missing-nin?" His voice peaks a bit at the end there. He shrugs when he gets a look of obvious disbelief.

"My otouto did what he thought he had to in order to protect both his village and our younger brother." Sakura's voice is resolute. "At the time, he did not know of a better way."

Jiraiya wonders when, or even if, they are going to tell Tsunade that Sakura is actually an older version of one of her younger brothers, and is stuck in the body of somebody completely unrelated to them. He then decides that they can explain it, because if he tries he is going to end up as much of an alcoholic as Tsunade; he doesn't have the healing jutsu to fix his liver, so there is only one way in which that would end.

.

They knock very politely on the door. And when it opens, there is a missing-nin, who just happens to be S-rank and infamous for killing off his entire clan. He also has a box of Pocky in his hand, and a stick of the chocolate covered treat in his mouth. "Hello, nii-san." He says this to the pink one, and somehow he manages to sound elegant and not get crumbs everywhere.

"Jiraiya-"

"I don't know either. I started out with just the pink and orange, and these people just started following along."


	32. strays

"Hokage. You want me to be the Hokage." Tsunade gives Jiraiya the same look that she gives him when he asks her for help with his research. She turns to leave, and almost immediately is forced out all the way because of the orange child that has just been thrown at her.

A muffled "Convince her, Naruto!" can be heard through the closed door.

.

"I cannot believe that worked." Kisame is staring at Naruto performing his usual victory dance. "How did that work?"

.

Jiraiya is teaching Naruto the technique he has to master, so that leaves the rest of the group to their own devices. It is not as if they can actually put much use to that free time; a giant shark guy, a man with red eyes, and a girl with pink hair are not exactly inconspicuous. Sure, they may be in a civilian town, but there are always shinobi somewhere. Still. Some things cannot be avoided.

"I am going out to buy some more Pocky. Do not do anything rash while I am gone." Because, after being on Team Seven, Sakura knows that five minutes is the difference between a trip to the store and having to save a princess from an ancient curse.

"...Yes nii-san."

.

Tsunade is drinking, and the feeling that the blond brat might actually learn a new jutsu is creeping up her back; it is not an unpleasant sensation. She then feels another familiar presence behind her. A small smile, made of more resignation than joy, crosses her lips before they encase the tip of a bottle. "The whole team's here, eh? If I go to the casino right now, I think I'll hit the jackpot."

"I killed him." There is a pause, and the sound of shuffling. The seat next to her is taken, and she knows that if she were to look over she would see a pale face with long black hair and yellow eyes. "The Hokage is dead, yet I do not feel as if I surpassed him. I feel-"

"-empty? Orochimaru, he was our sensei; this just means that you're still human." She takes another sip, and hands the bottle over to her former teammate. He drinks some and hands it back to her. It reminds Tsunade of the first time that they tried sake, and how Jiraiya got drunk after two gulps.

Orochimaru shifts minutely in his seat. "He almost took my arms. I should be glad he's dead." He gestures for another swig of the alcohol. "I didn't even get a hold of the Uchiha kid. His pink brother is making me doubt myself." He is about to leave, but she grabs at his sleeve. Tsunade is looking him straight in the eyes, and a burning that has nothing to do with the booze that is stirring in her stomach.

"Pink? Around twelve, has green eyes?"

"I would think that pink hair would be enough of a descriptor, but yes. She matches those criteria."

.

Sakura is thankful for all those afternoons spent with the five hearted man, back then. She has managed to get half price off on her snacks because of his teachings, which means double the Pocky for the same price. All but one box are tucked away in the secret place that she keeps her sweets, and the one that is not has only a short time before it is empty.

And then she hears familiar voices, and a conversation that proves to her that she has changed something while in this life. It is a good feeling, the one that creeps deep into her heart.

.

Itachi looks at his younger brother and wonders how he got here in less than a week. He is surprised at how willing Sasuke is to accept him back into his life, but the boy just shrugs when he asks. "I've forgiven Sakura, and I'm not a hypocrite."

He feels as if he had not earned the trust he is being given, that Sakura seems to have worked so hard to get from their younger brother, but that does not mean he won't enjoy it. Because having Sasuke by his side is something he had given up long ago, and this is more than a miracle for him.

Two fingers poke at the younger's forehead.

.

Orochimaru has had the whole scenario figured out: destroy Konoha, get Tsunade at least partially on his side, get Uchiha, become immortal, etc, etc. Then he was forced to hear his parents' voices. Even if they were not real, they forced very real memories back to the surface of his mind. His mother's voice telling him about how the spring in Konoha was the best in all five nations, his father bringing him his first set of real kunai; memories of his childhood in Konoha, before it stopped being a home for him.

"Having the three sannin back as a team would decrease the chances of attacks on Konoha by foreign countries significantly." There is a crunch, and a box is held out to him. It means something, and it is something that Orochimaru is not sure he is willing to bind himself to. "That is, if you are willing to be a loyal shinobi once again."

He does not take the Pocky, but does not refuse it. "Maybe later." Orochimaru does not doubt the girl's ability to manipulate it so that his return will be seen as a positive; he knows that she has studied war, and propaganda is the thread that keeps the tightrope from unraveling under its feet. "Itachi. You could have killed me. Or, at least come close to it." He has no illusions as to that. The last time he went up against the kid, he ended up sans a hand.

There is a laugh. It is light, and not as sad as he expects it to be. Hands adjust the pink ponytail that hangs off of her head in a silent assurance of skill. She does not make hand seals; he glances at her movements to make sure of that. "Sakura; Itachi is a name that is taken, and a title that I have given up."

Orochimaru can see her move, as if to leave, and fully faces her. She is looser than before, the way she moves is just as graceful, but the sadness mixed with underlying frustration is almost gone. She looks him in the eyes, and must find something there. Her words are spoken and she disappears in what seems like an instant.

"Monsters may be made, but the human that you once were is still there. No matter how much you bury it."

.

Jiraiya is starting to think he has a sixth sense or something of that nature, because he suddenly gets a shiver that runs down his spine.

Somehow, he just knows that Sakura has picked up another stray. Goddamnit.


	33. Three Reunite

Sakura has found a nice abandoned field that they can all stretch their legs a bit and relax. Which, for a shinobi, tends to mean training. It is interesting to compare her fighting style with Itachi's; she recognizes it, obviously, but how it had changed over time is interesting.

He moves a lot more now than she did before she died; the disease must have taken more of a toll on the body than she thought, and she was not one to underestimate it.

Now, she will protect the man who she was, the man who she has claimed as a brother. Hopefully, Tsunade will be able to at least control it.

Her chakra control is almost ridiculous. Scratch that, it _is_ ridiculous. Not that she can complain, because along with not wasting chakra, it also allows her to do more delicate jutsu. More subtle jutsu.

.

" _Shit!"_ Sasuke just barely dodges the blazing kunai heading towards him, and then the flames just happen to follow him. He looks down to see that somehow, the tiniest string of wire has attached itself to him and the fire is using it to creep towards him.

"Language." Two voices scold in unison.

The fire is too close for him to cut the wire without harming himself; he can feel that the heat coming off of it is fueled by chakra, so he knows that the damage will be more than a burn if it should touch him.

He uses a low level water jutsu, but somehow it creates billowing smoke, even though it should barely sizzle. The chakra was not to inflict more damage, but to react more to the water hitting it. Sasuke realizes this too late, and a figure emerges from the mist. He dodges them just in time…

…only to be knocked over by another.

.

"Predict assumptions, and use them to your advantage. Sometimes subtlety is about making things _just_ noticeable enough. Misdirection is key."

"And make sure to remember that a shinobi will not idly standby and wait for you to finish a one on one battle. That kind of chivalry is for samurai."

.

"Shut up Naruto. I had to train with _them_ today. I don't care about the balls you're learning to make."

"That's what sh-"

"No, Naruto, no. I _will_ cut you."

.

Jiraiya is pleased beyond belief when Tsunade hands Naruto her necklace and agrees to become Hokage. He knows that if she refused, there would be a lot of political machinations to instate him in the office. Despite his not insignificant power and overall ability, he doubts that he would last a month.

Then his moment of swelling pride is crushed by the sound of slow clapping and a familiar voice.

"I see that this boy here is capable of great things, if he is under the right guidance."

.

Upon hearing the shouts of Naruto and Jiraiya, two shinobi training in the clearing flash out of there and towards the commotion.

The scene is tense, although no blows have been made. There are toads around Naruto, preventing him from trying to attack that 'snake-guy who Sakura kicked the ass out of'. Needless to say, those words make the pale man less than pleased. He would send out some Killing Intent, just to spook the kid a bit, but he feels as if that is a bad idea, considering who he can feel approaching.

"Ah, here comes Itachi." Sakura appears, followed shortly by Sasuke. The girl raises a brow, and takes out a box. She approaches Orochimaru, and gets dangerously close in doing so. Jiraiya is about to touch her shoulder, maybe warn her not to get within range of the man's attacks, but she gives him a small shake of the head.

Her eyes narrow, if for a second. She is taking a risk in extending an offer of peace to him. The conviction in which she says her next words make them a guarantee that nobody doubts. "If you try to take either of their eyes, I _will kill you._ This is your last chance at coming back to our home."

Then, a peaceful look, totally unlike the one she had before, breezes across her face. "Itachi is the name of my otouto, Orochimaru." She smiles at him, and holds out the open box. He hesitates, but takes one. "Hm, almond. Good choice."

.

Itachi and Kisame are watching from a ways away, because adding two missing-nin to this cluster of madness will make everything ten times worse. It is hard to resist the temptation to go up and demand to know what the hell is going on, but they are shinobi. They have to be patient, otherwise they would be dead by now.

.

While Tsunade knows that Orochimaru has been around this town and has met Sakura before, she has no idea what the hell is going on. From the looks on everybody's faces, neither do they. Then, the fact that he addresses the strange girl as Itachi, catches up to her. First Sakura claims to be Itachi's older sibling, and now Orochimaru is calling her by that name.

Tsunade looks over at her perverse teammate and makes a fist. He is going to explain what the hell is going on, then she is going to show him her wrath, and it will be a slow and painful one.

.

Jiraiya sees the recognition in Tsunade's face, the one that has a distinct lack of shock when faced with their old teammate. While the whole Sakura is Itachi thing can be overwhelming, she should have shown more surprise when he first arrived.

He stands between the snake and Naruto. While the girl may see him as something other than the murderer he is, he will not let Orochimaru lay a finger against his godson.

.

Somehow, Itachi trusts Sakura. He by no means likes Orochimaru, nor does he trust him, but he has a feeling that Sakura does not either. She is just more willing to reach out to him, as they obviously have some sort of past besides the altercation that Itachi remembers.

It also doesn't hurt that he can see her subtly position herself between Sasuke and the man.

.

The look the girl gives him seems to radiate an aura of somebody who will not hesitate to put down a dog if it is to be found rabid. Orochimaru does not blame her, he has done some things that, while he does not _regret_ do not bring him any satisfaction. Nothing has made him feel in a long time.

He takes a bite of the white covered stick and thinks that he may start to like the taste of sweets.

.

Sasuke looks over to Naruto, who is seething. He motions for the blond idiot to stop fidgeting, because that is not going to help anything, but is ignored. Instead, he tries to make out something that Sakura is saying.

"…Try to take eyes…I will kill you." She sounds vicious, but cold, from what he can make out. "…Last chance."

.

"This room is getting cramped." Sakura says this as more of an observation rather than a complaint.

The sannin and Team Seven (minus Kakashi) are in the motel room that is being rented by them. Somebody says something about _how maybe if Jiraiya weren't such a cheapskate and got two rooms, they wouldn't even have a problem_. And another person says that _if he has to feed a bunch of preteens along with uninvited guests, then he has to get one room or they'll all go hungry_.

"And annoying." Sasuke responds, glaring at the bickering duo.

Then the door swings open and even more people walk in.

"Itachi, can you explain how Itachi is here?"

.

Kisame and Itachi both tense at the sight of the three sannin sitting together, but soon relax. They do not appear to be ready for some sort of battle.

Now that everyone is gathered together, Tsunade puts her fist to her palm. "Somebody better start explaining what the _hell_ is going on."

.

"Well. I wasn't expecting that."

"Surprisingly enough, neither was I."

.

Sakura tells them her plan, and they work the kinks out of it. Nothing they will say is going to be a lie, and that is the trick to putting a good spin on things. Itachi and Kisame will be somewhat easy to make sympathetic, especially with the manipulation that was involved in their crimes. They can be played as something akin to victims.

Orochimaru will be harder; they will keep him locked under seals and inside of the village, but they can do it if he's willing. If he so chooses, they have to expose the warhawk and his crimes before they bring the final sannin back to Konoha. His own wrongdoings will be lessened in the wave of shit that is going to revealed about roots rotting away at the rest of the tree.

It's all politics, really. Sakura had read enough about it in her past life, as well as this one.

.

"They haven't reported back, Pein-sama."

"Interesting. Have _him_ look into it. It would cause alarm if a third member got lost; if he dies, it will not have much of an effect on the others."


	34. Dreams of Home

They are making their way back to Konoha at a steady pace. Jiraiya has used an intricate design of ink and chakra to keep Orochimaru from using anything more complicated than tree walking. With a brush in hand, he grumbles about how some bastards should not be allowed anywhere near the village. Sakura cannot blame him. The pale man has done a lot of bad in his life, and she knows that he does not feel remorse in the way that most do. But, if they can get him hooked on feeling in and of itself, then they can keep him tethered with it.

Tsunade is the one who seems to get along with him the best at the moment. Everyone else is wary, and so is she, but she is willing to walk beside him as they travel under the tall trees that lead the way home.

.

They camp for the night, and it is peaceful. Or, as peaceful as a shinobi can allow things to get. There is a small cave, unoccupied by wildlife, that they can sleep in.

Sleeping bags are lain out, and Jiraiya has first watch. Surprisingly, they are all able to sleep.

.

Itachi dreams of it sometimes. His eyes captured every second, burned it into his memory as a reminder of the horrors that he has committed. The faces of people who were horrified, people who did not even have the time to be scared. The people who understood, who nodded peacefully.

The way the most precious person in his whole world looked at him like he was a monster (and who could blame him?).

Itachi wakes with apologies and sorrow clinging to his dried tongue. This is the part where he usually hyperventilates until he can calm himself down enough to fall back into a fitful rest. He coughs, his lungs not up to the task, and then wipes the blood on his cloak; hopefully he will not need to wear the red and black for much longer.

As his fit stops, he takes in his surroundings. Everyone is crammed into the tight space, and he sees Sakura asleep on the floor. There has been no one to find comfort in since that night, and he feels no shame in lying next to her and shutting his eyes.

He sleeps well; he sleeps safely.

.

Sasuke dreams of it sometimes. The way that he was so damn happy, only to open the door and have his life fall apart; to open the door to a scene that he knew would forever be burned into his memory. His brother, standing behind their dead parents, and the hope that he would help only to find out that he was the culprit.

He had hated for so long that he almost forgot what it was like to trust in love again. He had hated for so long that it was all he knew, and only fire and tears could break through to him.

Sasuke, for the first time, dreams of the teardrops that his brother cried that night. He dreams of moments spent mourning alone, and how they both have horrors from that night. There was pain in the memories from that genjutsu, and too much weariness.

When he wakes up, Sasuke is covered in sweat and survivor's guilt. His heart races but, after so many years of these nightmares, he is used to the pounding in his chest. He looks around the cave, and when his eyes are focused enough he can see the vague outlines of his brothers. They are next to each other, and he cannot help but squeeze himself in the space between them.

It has been so long since he has been able to be surrounded by family that weren't ghosts lingering in his mind.

.

Sakura has been dreaming all of her life. Her days feel less like horrific nightmares lately, and she is glad that they do not claw at her the way that they did in her childhood. She feels her brothers sneak beside her, one after the other, and she smiles.

She dreams of her past, and knows that those mistakes will not play out again.

.

Orochimaru dreams of something besides death and cold, calculating intelligence. In all of his years, he has not thought of his parents' faces since he was a child. Now he sees them, none of the erosion that time creates distorts their images, their voices, or their touches.

He dreams of the day that he got his hitai-ate, and how he felt proud to be a shinobi of his village. They had both hugged him that day, and he wonders when he forgot about those embraces.

.

They move again in the morning, and sneak in through the abandoned Uchiha compound. It is secluded from the rest of the village and large enough to hold a few people without anybody noticing.

.

Tsunade stomps in, all confidence and pure power. She makes her way into the hospital, and demands to see the 'Hatake brat'. Trailing behind her are three Genin who are anxious to see their team leader.

The have barely had enough time to get a look around the sterile hallways before they arrive outside of his door. Tsunade pulls green chakra to her hands and gets to work.

Sakura looks at the limp body of Kakashi and feels a pang of guilt. She knows that it was for the best to go with Jiraiya, that she stopped more future destruction and pain in doing so, but it doesn't change the fact that Kakashi has spent hours and days being skewered by a thousand copies of the man she used to be.

"I am sorry, taichou." Her voice is unheard.

.

When Kakashi wakes up, he sees an angry blonde lady hovering over him. And she has great brea- _skin_. Yeah. Skin. Really great skin; no blemishes and a smooth, clear complexion. _Great_ skin.

"Kakashi-taichou, you should probably look somewhere else. I recommend her face." His students are all lined up behind the woman. None of them look hurt, and he relaxes a bit. After falling to the Uchiha he had been worried about what may happen to Sasuke or Naruto, and prayed that Sakura did not have to go up against the man to defend them.

"Tsunade-baa-chan." Kakashi turns towards the woman, presumably the new Hokage, and wow she has aged well. She also smacks Naruto upside the head for his inadvertent comment on her age. It does nothing to stop the boy. "Are we gonna take Kakashi-sensei to the secr-!" Three hands from three people cover his mouth.

"Secret?" This is interesting. But since becoming a Jonin sensei, most things have been interesting or terrifying or like a hallucination from those plants that grow in the forest. "Why am I not surprised?"

.

"Aniki. You're sure he's going to be able to handle this?" Kakashi looks over to Sasuke. He is talking to Sakura, and besides the fact that she does not appear to fit the requirements of 'big brother', that terminology should not fall from Sasuke's lips so easily. Not without anger and revenge spewing out afterwards.

Sakura pokes his forehead in a way that Kakashi knows should send the boy into a panic attack. "I trust him, he is the leader of Team Seven, and an elite Jounin, after all." Well, at least _someone_ respects him. "Even if he is Kakashi." Or not.

.

They stand outside of the Uchiha compound and Tsunade does not even glance at Sasuke before stepping onto what is technically his property. Kakashi raises a brow, but gets no response from the stoic boy.

Before they enter, he is stopped. For some reason Naruto has been delegated as the man to explain the situation.

Instead of approaching things tentatively, Naruto just says things bluntly and without an ounce of tact. "Can you help us hide some people at Sasuke's place? Y'know, make sure they don't go and do bad stuff while baa-chan and Sakura and ero-sennin are investigating some creepy guy who is running a secret underground militia group." After the shock of Naruto using a term such as militia, Kakashi comprehends what they're asking of him.

"Well-"

"Ero-sennin will even sign all of your books."

"...All of them?"

.

"I cannot believe that worked." Kisame mumbles, quiet enough so as not to be heard from his hiding place. A sense of deja vu washes over him. "What is wrong with these people?" These Konoha ninjas are going to drive _him_ , a six foot something blue shark man, crazy. He just knows it.

.

Kakashi does not know what he was expecting, but he knows for sure that he did not anticipate the man who landed him in the hospital to pop out of the bushes. Itachi goes to stand by Sakura, who does not even tense.

It is instinct that makes Kakashi push his hitai-ate up, and he feels his eye swirling into its mangekyou form. Even if his regular sharingan did nothing, at least this may hold him off for a while; enough time for his stupid students to run away.

Then he gets a hard slap to the head. "Don't exert yourself, you idiot!" Tsunade sounds pissed, and a pissed Tsunade tends to end with broken bones. And healed bones that are broken again. So, Kakashi does what she asks. She must know what is going on, but he is interrupted before he can question her.

" _How did you get that sharingan?_ " Two voices ask and, if it were not for the different pitches to the voice, they would sound almost exactly the same. The way the tone and emphasis on words is so similar is kind of scary.

Kakashi looks up to see two sets of intense eyes scrutinizing him, in obvious distress. "Nobody you killed, Itachi-san." He cannot help but bite this out at the missing-nin. The man shifts uneasily, and Sakura gives him one of her disapproving looks. He looks at her and not Itachi as he continues. "A friend of mine. He died to save my life." The guilt is still fresh.

Kakashi feels a hand grip his elbow, and it is his strange student. Her eyes are green and deeper than a child's should be. She nods in understanding, and when she speaks it is quiet and gentle. "I… also lost a friend. My best friend. He sacrificed himself for the village." That is code, he knows from all his years as a Jounin, means shinobi suicide; putting oneself before death for the sake of Konoha. "He was an Uchiha also."

Kakashi wonders why he ended up with all of the messed up students on his team.

"Please, Kakashi-taichou. Tell us who it was."

"…Obito…"

Tension spreads as he says this, and when he looks up both Sakura and Itachi are frozen in place. It is Sakura who speaks next, the vulgarity sounding strange coming from her tongue. " _Fuck_."

* * *

 **ALSO:**

"You think they forgot about us?" Kabuto is beyond caring about keeping up his disturbing pseudo upbeat tone. He sounds bored and is aggressively wiping dirt from his glasses with his shirt. He has been doing so for the past hour.

"Oh yeah. We haven't even been mentioned by name yet." Shizune pulls out a pack of cigarettes and offers him one. They're both medical ninjas, they can do a jutsu to undo the effects. Hopefully. "Wanna go to a bar?"

Kabuto takes a cigarette. "After you. It's not like we're going to be needed in the next chapter."


	35. Disbelief

Itachi is not sure what to think about this revelation. Obito was one of the few members of the clan that he could really trust to be open with his feelings. Now, he has no idea how to deal with the sense of betrayal.

He thinks that he deserves this; it's only fair that he gets a taste of what he left behind. But why does it have to affect his village, his brother? Madara, no- Obito, had told him about how he was the one who set the kyuubi loose. Obito started the downfall of the clan, who led us all to the massacre with like flies to a corpse.

He feels something in him break, and his head is spinning and oh god is he really that blind? He is such a fool, one who couldn't even save his family, his best friend, who couldn't be there for his brother. I'm sorry I'm sorry I fail everyone I love I'm sorry I'm-

"Otouto." A voice breaks through the fog of his mind. It is so quiet that Itachi can barely hear it, but that does nothing to degrade the effect of the word. Sakura stares up at him, yet he feels like he is the smaller one. It is not unpleasant; he is able to get support, rather than wait alone for his last family to kill him. "You were hyperventilating."

Looking around, Itachi sees the faces of his brothers, and the worry in their brows. He leans into Sakura's side. "Itachi, it is not your fault." Her hand rests on his back and he tries to relax himself. "We have made mistakes, and hindsight is cruel. But he was gone long before we could have helped."

.

Sasuke watches Itachi as he breaks. It is shocking, seeing the man, who he had always considered sturdy and able to handle the hardest of hits without flinching, as somebody who has weaknesses. "Aniki." He does not know what to say next, so he settles himself close to Itachi and rests his forehead against him.

.

Kakashi is confused. The man looks strangely meek, surrounded by a girl who should not know him and a boy who has hungered after his death for years.

But not for a second does he think that the man in front of him is innocent. His time in ANBU has passed, but that does not mean that he cannot be just as cold and sharp as when he was. If Itachi has anything to do with Obito, he will find a way to kill him.

"What did you do?" Kakashi can see the Uchiha tense, and presses on. He cannot afford to be patient or impassive about this.

Whatever he did to Obito, to his students to make them trust him, Kakashi will find out and do something to fix this mess of a situation. Even if Sakura is giving him a venomous look and telling him to shut up. "What did you do to Obito?"

"Kakashi." There is no taichou at the end of his name, and Sakura has the look of an alpha dog who is protecting their pack. "Itachi did nothing to Obito." She looks him straight in the eye. "Unless you assisted in the Uchiha massacre, he is still alive and has a vendetta against Konoha."

.

Sakura has fond memories of Obito, and she mourns the death of a good man. Because he is not the same person that she knew, who would sneak her treats and make her laugh. He let the kyuubi loose, killed his own sensei. He is a murderer, the man who started everything.

Sakura looks at her brother, and sees how Itachi cracks just a bit more. She will make sure that he never shatters, not like she did. The life she has now is one where she has a sharper edge than she used to. She is not sure if she has just become more jaded, or if it has something to do with her current body.

Either way, she does not plan to offer him any more chances to break her family.

.

"What?" Kakashi has no idea what Sakura is talking about. As far as he knows, Itachi was the sole executioner, a prodigy that was allowed to go unchecked for too long.

"Madara." It is Itachi who speaks, and for a second he looks like just another teenager who is lost and in over his head. "He said his name was Madara. I should have known that somebody from the founding of the village shouldn't be alive."

"Your mangekyo is the same as his. He told me about how he was the one to release the kyuubi and send it on a rampage." Sakura sounds cold, and the ice in her voice is enough to burn through anything it touches. Kakashi wonders if she has any idea how absurd she sounds. There is no way that she should know half of what she says, even if most of it is wild conjecture.

"Sakura, you talk as if you knew these people." Kakashi is honestly exhausted. "You act like you were at the massacre."

"…She was."

.

Sasuke feels as if he either helped the situation immensely or screwed it up to the point of no return. He is determined to finish his thoughts though. "When Itachi tried to trap me in a genjutsu… She took it over and showed us what really happened."

.

"She overrode Uchiha Itachi's genjutsu?" His brow rises, and his disbelief is obvious.

Jiraiya awkwardly coughs from the side. "He's telling the truth." Tsunade nods as well.

"Nii-san is not as affected by the sharingan as most are, Kakashi-san."

"Did he just say nii-san?" Kakashi can see the way that Itachi is subtly leaning against Sakura, positioned a little bit behind her as if she were his protector. Still. His students are all under thirteen. Itachi is around eighteen, nineteen at most. "Did he just say nii-san?"

"Jiraiya, you left with two, two kids, to get the new Hokage. What the hell happened?"

* * *

ALSO:

"You too?" Shizune turns to the boy next to her. He is definitely too young to be in a bar; she can tell, even if he is covered by a jacket and glasses. When she asks him about this, he sighs. "Nobody notices me." She pats his shoulder in understanding. She knows the feeling.

"Yeah same here, as well as Kabuto." She jerks her thumb in his general direction. The man sees this and walks over, already visibly inebriated. He leans on her shoulder, more for balance than any sort of affection. He still manages to somehow fling his glasses so hard they embed themselves into a wall. "I'm Shizune." She holds out her hand, ignoring her drunk companion.

"Shino." The boy responds.


	36. Can't Sleep Without You By My Side

"Aniki." Itachi says from behind Sakura, as if that will explain anything. Kakashi is still confused. The nod instead of flinch at the word from Sasuke is interesting though.

If it not for the dangerous criminal, it would seem like an almost cute scene; an older sibling being the protector of the younger ones. A family. But the dangerous criminal _is_ there, and it just looks like some macabre perversion of one.

Kakashi does not want to listen to what they have to say about Obito. His cute little Genin should not be involved in whatever this is. He wonders how this has happened, but he does not hold anything against Sakura for standing in front of Itachi. The man is a master manipulator. After she somehow beat the genjutsu he probably resorted to tactics that were psychological and not jutsu based. Nobody ever really expects anything other than flashy moves from shinobi.

"Kakashi-taichou. Remember Wave?" Sakura interrupts his thoughts, and he nods. "When you asked me about what my mask was?" He nods again, slightly embarrassed; it is rude to ask after the masks when not wearing them.

She rolls up both sleeves, and she has no tattoo on either shoulder. While most would not be surprised at the lack of ANBU tattoo on a twelve year old, most have not seen her use the hand signals, nor the way that she is brutally efficient when she needs to be. He is about to ask her how she knows so much of its inner workings, when she speaks again.

"Weasel, Kakashi-taichou." She looks at him, determination and honesty in her eyes. "My name was Uchiha Itachi, before I was born a Haruno. I have known this long before I even knew the man I call my brother existed."

Well, there goes all of his theories.

.

Sakura watches as the crow is summoned again, and it goes through the same motions as before. It squawks and juts its head at her, then hops over hoping for a pat on the head. She obliges, and breaks some Pocky into crumbs in case it gets hungry.

.

"So. What you're saying is that Itachi tried to put Sasuke in an unbreakable genjutsu, the same one that he put me under, then she took it over and showed Itachi's real memories of what happened. And then broke it with a sharingan because she has Itachi's body in her mindscape." The collective audience nods. "And Itachi did not want to kill his clan, but did so to protect Konoha and his brother." Another nod.

"Anything else?"

.

Kakashi is joking. He does not want nor need an answer. He gets one anyways.

.

There is rustling from the bushes, and a man who resembles a shark more than a human comes into view. Behind him slinks a pale man with something a tiny bit more than the usual apathy in his yellow eyes. At least Kakashi can see the black stains of ink that are dealing his chakra away so, unless he has suddenly become a taijutsu master, he will not escape. Hopefully.

Kakashi's instincts say to try kill them, but the huge fish man has taken to standing beside Itachi who is standing behind Sakura, and for some reason Tsunade is blocking a straight chidori path to Orochimaru's heart. He notices that she is the only one who is not uneasy around him. Even Sakura shifts herself a bit to separate him from the two Uchiha that stand behind her.

"She gave me Pocky." The snake is on guard, that is obvious enough. Kakashi feels himself become less tense at those words. "Don't worry, I'm here more as part of a symbol than anything else. But I have agreed to not do anything _too_ 'immoral', at Itachi's request." He gestures to Sakura, and she mumbles something about how her name is Sakura now.

Kakashi looks at his Genin and remembers his younger squad member, from the days when his name was Hound. He remembers how the kid was always, if not sad, melancholy. He pats her head, and sighs. "Sakura-chan. It's always you, isn't it?"

She smiles, small and honest. Her shoulders seeming so much thinner with the knowledge that he now has of her; much too small to bear the weight of two lives. But she has done it so far, and Kakashi knows that she can continue to do so. If she ever needs help, well he _is_ her Jounin sensei.

.

Kisame watches as Kakashi, who had a normal reaction to Itachi's presence, nods. He doesn't look comfortable, not by a long shot -he actually looks sort of dazed-, but somehow the statement that has lead to him half-listening without attacking is the one about _Pocky._

At least the _Bloody Mist_ made some sort of violent sense.

.

"Listen! We have bigger things to take care of." Tsunade interrupts the awkward silence that erupts. Because she has had a very confusing few days and needs some alcohol. She would ask Shizune to get some for her, but the girl has disappeared somewhere.

She feels several sets of eyes descend when she says bigger. Raising a fist makes the eyes go back to her face. " _Apparently_ there are several problems trying to destroy Konoha, whether they think so or not." She does not elaborate on whom she is speaking of when she says the last part. "I do _not_ want to have to deal with that if I'm Hokage, so they take priority."

.

Sakura sees Kakashi give her a look that makes it very clear that they are going to have a talk about this later, and she nods. She knows that it is only fair; she just hopes that he believes her.

.

"Danzo?" The name is like a curse, and it has not been so bluntly stated so far. Kakashi knows that the man had a very skewed sense of righteousness, but to undermine the Hokage again and again is criminal; especially when half of the things that the man has done 'for Konoha' end up with even larger repercussions.

"Sometimes, when the plant is starting to rot, we need to cut away the diseased part. Even if they are the roots." Sakura's voice is cold.

.

Pakkun is summoned, and wants to be unsummoned as soon the smoke clears. A snake and a fish, along with two crows are what greet his nose. There are others too, but they do not register as threats to him.

Three missing-nin, all S-rank, and a little girl are the ones with the scents that throw him off. He growls, wondering why the hell the rest of the pack is not being summoned, because surely Kakashi doesn't think he can handle these people with just him. He is confused when Kakashi motions for him to stand down.

"Pakkun, I need your help with keeping everyone in check." The crow-girl moves closer and he tenses, ready to bite if necessary. She smells like one of the more dangerous men in a group of dangerous men. Kakashi does not seem to mind her though. "We're going to be guarding this place."

"Yeah. _We_." The dog mumbles. This is gonna be a long night.

.

It is almost surreal to be back in her home after all that has happened in the past few weeks. Sakura is greeted with a hug from her mother, and it is one that she leans into. Her father claps her on the shoulder, and the lines around his eyes crinkle in a smile. She loves her parents, she loves them so, so much.

.

She is trying to sleep, but is interrupted by a small knock on her window. Disabling the traps, she opens it to let the two people in. No words are said, and she lets them lie on the floor with her; the bed is not large enough to fit three people, and she will not leave them on the cold wood alone.

She reminds herself to thank Kakashi for letting them come later.

.

" _Shisui…Forgive me."_ The voice is too soft for most to hear, and it is not what wakes Sasuke up. The coughs are the what breaks his sleep. He hears shuffling, and muffled noises of sickness and sorrow.

"Otouto…" Another muffled noise. "He does not blame you, Itachi. He _loves you_ , and so do Tou-san and Kaa-san. I met them, after I died. _We all love you so much_."

Sasuke does not interrupt. This is something that he does not feel he should intrude upon.

* * *

 **ALSO:**

"Shiz, we are INVISIBLE." The glasses that were embedded in the wall have found their way back to Kabuto's face, but it does no visible good. He is drunk, probably high from what those people in the bathroom were smoking, and feels invincible. "It's like superpowers. SHIZ, we have SUPERPOWERS."

Shizune, while impressed that they have managed to steal two sinks and a storage freezer from the bar without anybody noticing, does not appreciate the noise level that Kabuto has. "Kabuto, we don't wanna get caught!" She tries to put her finger to his lips to shush him, but they end up in his ear instead.

Shino is starting to wish he was the one drinking. But alas, that is the struggle of a preteen.


	37. In Plain Sight

A masked man is growling to himself, wondering what the hell has happened. While he did not hear the full conversation, he heard enough. They mentioned his name, his real name, and they knew of his crimes. The Akatsuki cloaks are hard to miss, so he knows that the two people he saw were, in fact, Itachi and Kisame. If Itachi is back in the picture, this can only mean bad things.

First however, he has to figure out who that girl is; from his standpoint it looked as though Itachi deferred to her.

If only he had heard more than a sliver of the conversation between the shinobi, he would know. But he was not going to risk coming too close to an empty compound with several very powerful shinobi inside.

.

There are three people who are studying a map, their only source of light a candle that Jiraiya got from _somewhere._ The place is eery, although the site of a massacre at night tends to be less than soothing.

"In the sewers." Orochimaru states this matter of factly, as if it is in no way suspicious that he knows these things. He points to a map, and traces a line with his elegant fingers. "They run through here."

Jiraiya hands him a crayon and tells him to write it because there is no way he is going to remember this off of the top of his head. When given an affronted look from the snake sannin, he just sticks his tongue out. "It's so you don't stab me with anything pointy, Oro."

Tsunade is in the corner of the room listening to the plans. It is actually pretty simple, and effective. It also does not involve letting all of the animals in Training Ground 44 out; Naruto is still pouting about that one. She looks over at her former teammates, and smiles. It has been a long time since they came together like this, even if it is under strenuous and dire circumstances.

Katsuyu, who is sitting on her shoulder, wiggles her eyestalks. "I can do this, Tsunade-sama." The slug nods to her master and leaves in smoke.

.

The spot closest to the window, where intruders would most likely try to come in through, is occupied by Sakura. Itachi is in the spot closest to the door. Sasuke is in between them, in the safest spot possible. It is warm, between the two bodies, and he remembers missing the embrace of family.

.

Sakura's parents are not fools. They know something is strange about their child, something that causes a disconnect between her and everybody else. So, when Sakura wakes up and looks them in the eyes for the first time without fear or weariness (for them, as if their child is afraid of hurting them), they do not question the two boys in her room.

Both know what love looks like, and their daughter's is fierce. Hers, in this moment, is one that has nothing to do with romance, but is just as strong. Although they have no idea who the elder one is, nor why the boys came, it is obvious that they are under Sakura's care. And Sakura takes care of her own.

.

Itachi wakes up to the smell of food. At first he is confused, but then remembers his migration to Sakura's house last night. The girl is already up, and smiles at him.

"Good morning, otouto." He is poked on the forehead, and it feels comforting. A look passes between the two, and he knows that she was the one to bring him solace after his nightmare. No words are said, but his thanks is heard all the same. "There is breakfast in the kitchen. We should eat."

.

Warm meals with family. It is something that Itachi has missed. He does not question the way that Sakura's parents do not seem fazed by the fact that their child has spent the night on the floor with two boys who climbed through her window; knowing her, it is probably not the most surprising thing that she has done.

Her mother waves at both brothers with a strange familiarity for one that has never met him, and her father makes an approving nod. There are five plates in the table.

.

While Sakura has a plan on how to get Danzo out of the way, there is the Obito factor that she has not been prepared for. If she is right, then the lack of effect that the sharingan has on her will be a huge advantage for them, if it comes to blows.

Still. The man who has called himself Madara is powerful, and she cannot underestimate him just because of her advantage. In the few years before her death, he _did_ become more rash in his decisions; he might be able to be lured out again by anger. If he is though, the fallout from that is undecided.

Not to mention, what exactly can trigger his rage.

She takes a calming breath. _One thing at a time._

Sakura puts on her best clothes and leaves with her parents to see the Hokage's inauguration.

.

There were a lot of words thrown around, ones like 'establishing trust' and 'connect with the people' and 'it will endear her to the village'. No matter how much the planners seemed to think this would work, Danzo is nothing but annoyed.

A slug wiggles up to him, and greets him in a voice that does not match its appearance at all. "Thank you for coming to the Godaime's Inauguration! I will show you to your seat, Danzo-sama." At least it was polite.

Looking around him, he does have to admit that the tacky publicity stunt is working. People are laughing and becoming more open to the sudden new Hokage because of her sociable summons. Even the children are conversing with the slimy things.

"I heard that the new Hokage's a _princess!_ " He hears a young girl squeak.

"Well, people do call her that sometimes." And there's another slug, not complaining about how the girl is petting it like a puppy.

Danzo hates that this is working.

.

The slugs are everywhere, and the whole village is practically saturated in its calming chakra. Nobody can sense a minuscule Katsuyu break from the crowd.


	38. The First Step

Ino is being troublesome. But then again, she is almost always troublesome. Almost everyone is, as a matter of fact.

Shikamaru is wondering if now that they have a Hokage the Chunin Exam results will finally be announced. He does not particularly care (if his calculations are correct, he knows that less than six people are even going to be considered for promotion), but the amount of tense energy that has been created by this makes everything even more exhausting.

The whole test was terrible, from start to grisly finish. He thinks that he has fared well, but if he has not passed then he can wait for a field promotion. There is no way that he is going to take another one of those. Unless his mother is involved. Then he will definitely have to retake it, should he fail.

Before he gets to think on that any longer though, Ino speaks up. Directly in his ear.

"Look! Sasuke's back!" She tugs on his arm as if he is interested. "Hey! Sakura's there too, I bet she's trying to steal Sasuke away from me!" Shikamaru raises his head to tell Ino to talk at a lower decibel when he sees something that even he could never predict happening.

Uchiha Sasuke is smiling. Not a smirk, not a half assed twitch of lips, but a genuine smile. It is small, but still. Shikamaru doesn't think that the Uchiha has access to the 'Secret Herbs of the Sarutobi', so the boy is most likely not high.

Beside him is Sakura. She looks… Shikamaru cannot describe it properly. At peace, maybe? Relieved, maybe; at what he does not know. Either way, the two are different than they were when they had last been seen by the members of Team Ten.

He knows that the whole Team Seven is strange, but other than that has no clue what is up with them. There was something at the Chunin Exams that happened to them, especially where that Suna kid was involved. And, if the timing says anything, they have had a part in bringing Tsunade back to the Leaf.

"Troublesome."

.

Sakura and Sasuke make their way over to the table. Ino snorts a bit at Sakura, and then gives Sasuke a look that she must consider seductive. "It has been a while; how is everybody?" She tries to make awkward small talk, but instead gets interrogated by Ino.

"We haven't seen you guys since that happened! Did Sasuke get hurt? Where did you guys go?" And, before Sakura can get a word in: "You can't have Sasuke; he's gonna be my boyfriend!"

Both her and Sasuke gag on the drinks that Katsuyu has brought over. This is the second time that Ino has insinuated a romantic relationship between them. Considering that they are not visibly related, it is not the most unreasonable assumption, but still.

Instead of bashing her head on the nearest possible wall, Sakura takes a deep breath. "I am in no way, shape, or form remotely romantically interested in Sasuke-kun."

A harrumph that sounds suspiciously like 'Yeah right' is made.

.

Tsunade makes a short but powerful speech, and the crowd is cheering loud enough to shake the foundations of the village. She knows that this is the place she will heal and care for, for as long as it takes. The slug on her shoulder gives a slight nod, and the sannin breathes a sigh of relief.

The hardest part is yet to come, but at least the ball is rolling. She will make sure that her village is going to prosper, and that no more innocents get caught up in the backlash from a war that nobody is fighting.

.

Kakashi is having feelings; the kind that he finds almost as bad as the soul wrenching guilt that he has lived with since he was a child. Betrayal is something that he has not had to deal with in a long time. The lack of people who care about him and vice versa ensure that.

Guilt is a slow cracking of bones, watching as they become too heavy to hold themselves up, marrow seeping out from the cracks and staining the soul. Guilt is knowing that the one who should be dead is still you, and damning the sense of relief that you felt when you were spared.

Betrayal poisons and bubbles the blood. The veins and arteries and capillaries burn as they dissolve the trust that you once had. Betrayal is wishing you did not still feel like you are the one who should have died.

.

He stands at the memorial. He does not talk, not like he usually does. Instead he traces the names of his dead comrades. The callouses on his fingers from years of working with weapons and jutsu make it hard for him to feel the individual letters.

When he gets to Obito's name, he looks at it. He is not sure how to feel when all he sees is engraving on stone and not the ghost of a dead boy who did not know how to give up.

Kakashi knows that there was no way he could have helped, that everybody was sure he was dead. That does nothing to assuage the what-ifs in his head.

"…Did I leave you behind?" _Am I worse than trash?_

The only answer he gets is the rustling of the wind.

.

Everybody is in a semi-circle. Tsunade, having abandoned the formal Hokage robes, bites into the skin of her thumb and slides it across the floor.

"Tsunade-sama." The slug, still small, greets her master. "I have them." She wiggles around, revealing a small scroll strapped to her back. The scroll is taken and opened, several documents falling to the ground.

.

The day before, they had been going over plans:

 _"Okay." Sakura has the colorful map in front of her. She does not bother to ask, because she does not want to deal with why Orochimaru is glaring at Jiraiya and pointing at the crayon marks. It is a map, it works, that is all that matters. "We need to get Katsuyu all over Konoha without it being suspicious."_

 _The slug has potent chakra, and having a heavy blanket of it over the village will make it almost impossible to detect the movements of a small portion of Katsuyu. Since she has the ability to split into multiple beings and multiple sizes, she is the perfect summon for this job._

 _She will sneak in, tiny and barely a speck amongst the overbearing chakra that will no doubt make sensor types go mad. Then, it is simply a matter of squishing and squeezing through cracks and openings until she gets to_ _the files. Then she takes them to the Shikkotsu Forest with her until she is summoned again._

 _People focus so much on summoning that they forget that unsummoning even exists._

.

"This is pretty damning evidence." Jiraiya makes an impressed whistling noise. He does not admit to being slightly jealous at how effective Tsunade's slug is at extracting files such as this. He's a spymaster, and he makes do. "It's so official that there is almost no way to forge it. Danzo really screwed himself over with all of his failsafes." It's true. The ink and signatures have faint traces of chakra lingering, and bloodsoaked seals have definitely been used in these papers.

.

"We will get him soon." Sakura says this to everybody, but her mind is on Itachi. Tsunade will need use of the hospital equipment if she is to fix what he has, and he cannot go to one until his name is cleared.

(She spits into the hole. The blood is expected, and she has made sure that the scent will be trapped deep within the earth.

A shiver runs through her body. Maybe it's a convulsion; she can barely tell the difference anymore. The aching has become commonplace and easily forgotten, but the sharp pangs in her chest are harder to ignore.

There is blood in a hole made from the dirt. She piles it back on carefully, doing her best to conceal her presence. It is sloppy, but the best she can do now. Her hands have started shaking.)

She whispers to herself, just quietly enough so that nobody can hear her. "Just hold on, otouto."


	39. Distraction

It has only been a week since she took office, but Tsunade has already proven herself capable. Apparently, the woman is great at working with numbers when she's blackout drunk; her drunken plans for the village include helping the economy and its growth. And adding more bars, but that is probably her alcoholism talking.

Not to mention, her little slugs have made her endearing to the public. Any doubts as to whether the woman who had not stepped into Konoha for years is a good choice to lead it have been, for the most part, set aside. She is also ridiculously popular with the younger generations, particularly women and girls.

All in all, it has been a week and the Godaime Hokage is already trusted by most.

Danzo has a problem with this. He jots down as such in his journal, which he writes in daily. Getting his thoughts out onto paper is cathartic, and only a seals master would be capable of reading what he writes.

.

"This guy is thorough. It's well sealed, but still. I do not want to read about his love/hate man-crush on Hiruzen-sensei." Jiraiya laments the fact that he has been put in charge of reading the old coot's diaries. While it is incredibly useful, it is also painfully awkward.

Orochimaru, Kakashi, and his dog do not seem to give a damn about his opinion on that, if he is interpreting the looks that he is being given correctly. The shark-man is just sort of petting his sword and has a blank look in his eyes. He is not brain dead though, because the twig that Orochimaru wanted to poke him with is now a pile of mush. He must still be in shock from the 'Konoha Experience'.

"Have you gotten anything _useful_?" Even the ever-composed Orochimaru is getting impatient. Jiraiya squashes the urge to chuckle at the other's annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah."

.

Danzo cooperates when he sees the official decree from the Hokage. He does not like it, nor does he want to follow it, but he works in the shadows. Any fussing now will only serve to have more eyes on him, which is something that no shinobi wants. The very public area in which the ANBU have decided to make the arrest ensures that he will have more than enough attention on him already.

.

"Danzo-sama, Lady Tsunade is going to be right with you." First he is dragged to a room void of anything except for a chair and those that arrested him, and now he has to deal with the slug yet again. If the Hokage wants to meet, she should at least bother to come on time.

The ANBU that have made the arrest are making no efforts to conceal themselves. None are his men, and he only recognizes one mask. It is a hound that snarls, and he can feel the mutual dislike between them become almost palpable. The tense atmosphere rises, until a quiet ' _taichou'_ breaks the Hatake out of his trance.

.

Jiraiya has to stay and watch Orochimaru, so Sasuke and Naruto are put in charge of working the gossip mill. If they tell the right people the right things, then the whole village will know by tomorrow.

He has always felt more pity towards the Uchiha than anything else; the whole clan was ever so elegant and powerful with the most fragile minds, often so caught up in their own heads that they forget others exist. Oftentimes it would only end in tragedy, and there has been no exception to the rule. That is, until the pink kid started throwing Pocky around like shuriken.

.

With the help of clones, modified oiroke no jutsu, and a naturally loud voice, Naruto has no problems when it comes to making the rumors heard. He talks about it close enough to people who are, according to Jiraiya and Sakura-chan, trusted within the village, so that it seems even more official as it creeps its way down the grapevine.

Sasuke, ever serious about the massacre and never one to even think about saying anything else but the truth about it, subtly confirms Naruto's words. His lack of argument, agreeing grunts, and occasional correction to the story all serve to bolster the claims.

It's a village full of shinobi, everybody will be informed within the next few hours.

.

It's a mishmash of increasingly disturbing orders and hidden missions. The words that have spread around so quickly are, at first, ridiculous. But, upon laying everything out, the evolution of the radical nationalist becomes clear. It is getting worse every hour, and the fact that this has gone on so long is amazing. Horrendous, but amazing nonetheless.

There is a knock at the door, and upon opening it two figures step in. "Inoichi, we've been called to the Hokage's office."

.

Danzo is not happy. Of all the things that he has done, tax evasion is not one of them. Tsunade seems to be of a different opinion though. "…And until we can properly go through the paperwork, you are required to stay in custody." At least the Hokage sounds as bored with this as he is. "It's all procedural, Shimura-san. We don't usually take such precautions, but you are suspected of not paying a good sum of money, and people have been known to run."

She sighs as if this is something that she wants to brush aside as much as Danzo does. He misses the glint in her eyes, watching him being taken away to his temporary living quarters.

.

"This is definitely legitimate. Lord, how the hell has this been happening?" The trio of people are looking at the papers that lay before them. They recognize many of the names, and even those that they do not know make their hearts break a little. All of these soldiers were just kids.

The children of this village are already forced to grow up too soon, they do not need them turned into automatons with no sense of self.

"We will help in any way we can." Shikaku knows that his two allies will agree as well.

.

"Just how much money do you think I deprived _my_ village of?" Danzo certainly does not deserve to be treated like some criminal. Even if he did what is being claimed, he should not be all but shoved into a jail cell.

"A lot."

.

The next day the public, already uneasy about the mysterious arrest of Danzo, is in a frenzy. Papers are disclosed, as well as journals; all of them have tickets of authentication from the Hokage and all ninja in the Intelligence division.

The sudden information fountain is surprising, but more than that it is frightening. A few members of a secret organization wonder if they should terminate the source of these findings, but they do not have orders to do so. And even if they did, the original perpetrator is lost.

Other council members are denying any knowledge of his wrongdoings, but it is easy to tell that some are lying. Unrest is on a dangerously steep rise.

Danzo is none the wiser, and therefor unable to counter it.


	40. A Public Announcement

"You may see your relatives for a short amount of time, but you must let them go to the deprogramming facility afterwards."

There are shinobi everywhere, escorting family members to and from the people that they had lost. No matter how many warnings are given, nobody can truly grasp how deep Danzo's brainwashing has gone, not until they see what has happened to those that they love.

Blank stares and dead eyes greet them, no words coming out of the sealed tongues. Most of the clan heads are watching as countless numbers of their own are being shuffled in and out. All are angry, and they are willing to put up a fight against the man who has done this.

Strangely enough, it is an elderly councilwoman who makes the first announcement. Tucked into her arms is a small boy, not yet twelve, who has the same dull look as the rest of the soldiers that were rescued.

"That bastard took my grandson. I'll tell you everything I can about _Danzo_."

She spits the name out as if it is a bitter poison, and it feels like a turning point. Not a victory, not yet, but a step in the right direction.

.

It is strange, he thinks, feeling the touch of another person. Sure, he has had contact with people, a brush of hands or a blow on bare skin during a spar, but nobody has ever _touched_ him. Or, at least he thinks so. The woman who has him in her grip is making undignified noises and cursing Lord Danzo; he does not approve, but can recognize her as somebody that works with the man. Harming her will only lead to punishment, so he stays still.

She… Reminds him of something. He can barely remember, but he has vague recollections of two smiling faces. They were his parents, he thinks. Then, a funeral; he thinks that the coffins buried held the people that those smiles belonged to.

The old woman who is holding him now, he remembers her, yelling at a stern matron who had put him with the other children who had lost parents in the battle. He thinks she was trying to get him back, to take him away from the group of orphans, but he cannot be sure. The voice of a cold woman telling her to 'provide proof of relations' bobs up from the depths of his memory. If she ever did get the proof after that, it was too late. He was taken, along with three others to work for a village in the shadows.

It is all too blurry, his past. But Lord Danzo, he and his teachings are clear as a breeze and sharp as the wind jutsu that he has been trained to use.

.

The Hokage is a very fair woman, and that earns her much respect. Even if most people wish that she could bend the rules a bit more this one time. She won't, and a public hearing will be held within the month. It is mostly for show, as everybody in Konoha has their minds set on a verdict already.

.

It's sad, seeing the parade of lost souls heading towards the rehabilitation facility. Hopefully, they will be able to say hello to their families again, but there is an unspoken acknowledgement that some are past saving. The most anyone can do for those people is to try and give them something resembling a life.

There is an old woman, clutching at her lost grandson, wondering how she could have looked for years and never once suspected that a man such as Danzo could easily take a few children from an orphanage.

.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Danzo-sama." The slug, his ever present guardian to ensure that he does not run from his 'crimes', gives him an apologetic wriggle of its eye stalks. The ANBU that are following him continue to do so, even when he reaches the exit to leave.

"I should hope you reprimand whoever made such a mistake on my tax reports." If that person is not fired, he just may have to kill them for the good of Konoha. He smiles a tad at his own internal wittiness, but it falls off of his face as soon as he opens the door. Instead of a few people that he has to vaguely explain the situation to and a few familiar chakra signatures in the trees awaiting orders, he is met with a crowd of people.

Most of those people are shinobi, retired and in-duty alike, but the few civilians that are there still give off Killing Intent. It is not a mob, but a militaristic and orderly set up. In the front, simultaneously keeping them from attacking Danzo and egging them on, is the Hokage herself. The two ANBU that have been his companions these past few days grip his arms and speak calmly. This is no surprise for them, and he wonders how long that this has been set up for, whatever _this_ is.

"You, Shimura Danzo, are under arrest for…" The snarling dog reads the list in a familiar lazy voice, holding the paper listing his crimes in a casual, one handed manner. Eventually he gets closer to the end of the page, and the crimes on the bottom are the steepest. The last thing he reads is one that none of those in the crowd have heard before, but is all too believable. "...And ordering a child to execute the genocide of the Uchiha clan."

.

Hiashi is furious. If that man is willing to cull one clan of dojutsu bearers, no matter how foolishly arrogant they may be, then who is to say that he will not come after the Hyuuga next? The head of the Hyuuga is sure that Danzo will be found guilty, but if he manages to avoid it somehow… Well, as the head of a very prominent and powerful clan, he has connections he can call upon.

.

It is a few days before the ball gets rolling, so to speak. A man sits by a river, and a girl appears next to him. She lets him lean lightly against her, and speaks in quiet tones that are almost drowned out by the rushing water. "You are going to be okay, otouto. I will do my best to ensure it." Both of them know that in their career, somebody's best is all that can be promised.


	41. The Dead Grieve

A wrecked looking Danzo sits in cuffs and guarded, barely able to move with all of his restraints. But damnit, he tries to when a man in a black and red cloak walks in. He had thought the boy swore to not say a word, to accept his fate.

 _Coward!_

The rattling of chains can be heard clearly against the silence of the rest of the room.

.

Uchiha Itachi walks into the room. He does not look like a vicious killer, he looks tired and sad and scared. He heads to a table, on which is an arm and a glass jar. Standing beside it, he opens the lid of an eye, and stares at it for a minute.

He had been tasked with identifying what Danzo had stolen and from whom he had taken them from. Each eye is a little different, and he can recognize every one.

.

Kisame knows that Itachi is more than he appears to be, has known since they first met. But, before they went after the kyuubi-brat and his friend intervened, he had never seen Itachi with his walls down. And now, seeing him stand in front of a crowd and relive what happened to him, Kisame questions whether he has ever actually known him.

"…Uchiha Izumi."

There are eyes, red and swirling, that he is pointing to. Kisame listens as Itachi says the names of people that are not familiar, but obviously mean something to him. There are pauses, awkward and stilted, where he does not speak nor breathe. Kisame has a feeling that if Itachi did, they would sound cracked and broken.

He picks up one eye and his voice sounds so very tired.

"Uchiha Shisui."

.

After his public identification of each eye, Itachi disappears before the crowd can get a good look at the boy who has gone from monster to martyr in less than a month. There is no sign of Sasuke or Sakura either. They will come back when they are ready, but until that time nobody will find them.

Conversation is buzzing with theories on how Itachi has come back and how he was convinced to do so. The Hokage has not been in office long, but Konoha has already marked her as one of the most worthy to take the position. She has brought a shunned man back home and shed light upon the quiet evils of a trusted man. And she somehow acquired a swordsman that defected from Kiri.

Two Jounin and one less corrupt shinobi/politician. Can't argue with results like that.

.

Somehow, Kisame has gotten himself wrapped up in a special tour of Konoha, with Uzumaki Naruto as his guide. This translates to accompanying the boy while he consumes inhuman amounts of ramen.

"But who would name it ROOT? There are so many other cool names." The blond kid somehow says this fairly clearly, despite shoveling noodles in his face. "Eh, either way everything is _mulch_ better now." Kisame groans. It's back to the puns again.

.

Flying above the trees, a crow circles the village. Two of its eyes are blood red.

.

There are groceries on his front steps, as there are whenever he runs out. The bags seem even fuller today, which is good because Naruto is planning a big meal, and to invite everyone to eat it with him. A shadow appears behind him, and he jumps as a hand grabs something from the bag.

"Ah, so nii-san has been delivering you food." Itachi has somehow appeared from out of nowhere, and is opening the box of Pocky that he has taken from the groceries. "It has her signature all over it." There is a small smile, full of fondness despite its size, and it makes Itachi's features seem less harsh.

Naruto thinks about how his friends, old and new, rarely smile. He makes a vow to himself, that he will keep them smiling as long as he can.

.

The apartment is not large. It is smaller than some rooms in the Uchiha compound, and they do not have grand halls like some clans do. Still, it is homey and feels much more comfortable than his old house. There are no ghosts here, or at least none that he has created.

A pot of tea is being made, and mismatched mugs sit side by side. The boy that he had been charged with tracking and kidnapping is now comfortable enough to reveal his back to him.

It is funny, how quickly things can change.

The water squeals and hisses in its pot, and soon it is poured and given to Itachi. He sips at it, enjoying the feeling of something warm and sweet run down his throat. Naruto is blowing on his, harshly enough that droplets are spilling off of the side; the action is more endearing than annoying.

"Itachi-san, you're different from what I expected." Two blond eyebrows scrunch in thought. "I mean, obviously you're not how Sasuke used to say you were! But, you and Sakura are different."

"I suppose we are." There are times when he wonders what his older brother has been through, because she was not there to rescue herself.

.

"You left me with the check!" Kisame bursts in, uninvited and unexpected. He does not give a shit though, because he has learned to never try to wriggle out of paying a ramen bill. That old guy and his daughter are terrifying; the Torture department in Kiri has _nothing_ on them. "…Oh, hi Itachi."

Itachi just nods in greeting, but the brat grins. "We missed you, Mr. Tuna!" Kisame tries to resist the urge to call him a fishcake. He fails.

.

"Kakashi-taichou." It is and has always been an unspoken agreement between the two, to never interrupt while the other is at their vigil. Sakura dies not enjoy breaking it, but things beyond their regrets need to be addressed. She traces unfamiliar names with her fingers, somehow knowing that she should recognize them.

It takes a while for him to respond, but she gives him the time.

"He wanted to be Hokage."

"…"

"He loved the village."

"…"

"He was my friend… He was my _hero_."

.

If he squeezes the tree branch any harder it will snap. The sound of his teeth grinding together are barely held off, and he has to force himself not to just attack right then and there. At least he can get a better look at the mysterious pink-haired girl.

She is small, not even in her teens. Yet, Kakashi seems to respect her in a way that teachers just do not with students, not to mention how she never actually refers to him as sensei. If only they said her damn name.

It is both satisfying and infuriating to see Kakashi break like that. Until the pink girl talks again, trying to comfort the man.

"He is so misguided, he does not know what he is truly doing." She looks not at her companion when she says this, but brazenly into Obito's eye. "She is crying for him, I am sure."


	42. Warm Meals

Kakashi sees Sakura gazing at the trees just beyond the memorial stone as she speaks. He looks over, but the only thing he catches is a stray leaf making its descent to the earth below. It looks like it was disturbed by the shuriken embedded in the tree more than any wind or unknown entity.

He did not catch when Sakura threw it, but he can tell from the twist of her lip that even if it did not hit anybody, it did not miss its target.

.

It's hard not to yell and cuss and attack. He grits his teeth and smashes around in his kamui dimension. Soon, he will get them _soon_. Even if he has to start the moon's eye plan a little early, he will make sure that the girl, at least, is gone.

Because something is dangerous about her. Something more than her eye contact and shuriken that would have hit him, if not for his sharingan's abilities.

If only he knew what it was that makes her seem so formidable.

.

"Tomorrow Tsunade-sama is starting treatments." Itachi looks at Sakura. She smiles and pokes him on the forehead. "It will be okay, otouto." He believes her.

It is still a foreign idea, having a family and being back in his home. He used to be glad that his disease was consuming him, as long as he did not succumb to it before Sasuke killed him. Each throbbing pain, every lungful of breath that felt much too sharp, it was all repentance.

Now, after all of this, he is ready to be healed.

.

"My mom told me to deliver this to you." Sakura holds out a packet to Naruto. He takes it and grins upon opening it. Seeds are all the same to her, unless they are edible or used in something such as that. Her mother has the green thumb, and is apparently sharing it with Naruto.

"These aren't even native to anywhere close to places that _border_ Fire Country! Your mom is the _best_!" He quickly stuffs them into a basket which contains other packets. A piece of paper with the words 'PLANT LATER' is stuck onto it. The look he gives it is one of longing, as if he wants to plant it in that exact moment but can't. Sakura knows that he is putting his horticultural quests on hold so that he can prepare the meal that he is planning to invite everyone to.

"If you want, I can-"

"No way, Sakura-chan!" Naruto is brandishing a celery stick as if it were a katana. Sakura is both amused, and confused about the intensity in his eyes. "I know your _dirty little secret_ , YOU'RE the one who leaves groceries at my door!" Sakura nods. "I forbid you from cooking! You already got me all of the ingredients."

.

The Three Legendary Sannin are all in an empty house, deep in the Uchiha compound. Orochimaru is there to stay out of the public eye, Jiraiya to keep watch over him, and Tsunade because she has a soft spot for both of the idiots. It has been so long since she has been to Konoha, but in a little over a month she has made it her home. The wandering had been getting old, anyways.

"You did _not_ make frog legs."

"Denying it won't make it any less true, Jiraiya."

Tsunade missed this, somehow.

.

Kisame is enjoying the various foods that are on the table. Everybody is squished together, but that is alright. The only thing that bothers him is the horrified look that Fishcake is giving him. It is not mild disapproval, or irritation, it is full on You-Kicked-Every-Puppy-in-Konoha.

"What?"

"Y-you're eating the _tuna._ "

Kisame struggles not to feed the kid to his sharks. It is very very hard to resist the urge, but he does it. Instead he grits his teeth and speaks slowly.

"You _served_ the tuna."

.

Itachi looks at Sasuke, griping at Naruto when Kisame isn't. He looks at Sakura, who distracts Kakashi when he is on the verge of getting lost in his own head.

It's… It's like looking at a family.

.

Itachi has never heard anybody cuss like this before, and he knows Hidan. It is both impressive and terrifying. Mostly terrifying, considering that Tsunade has needles she can poke him with.

"AND your eyesight is going to shit." Tsunade whops him on the head. "Sakura, how bad did you say it got?"

"It was still getting worse when I died." Sakura reports this, not seeming uncomfortable talking about the fact that she has died at all. "My body was shutting down. I was all but blind."

Itachi has no idea how she dealt with it all, when it got to the point that she is describing. He puts a hand to his chest, and wonders what the ache would feel like in a few years, what it would feel like if he had not been brought home.

.

Sakura sits on the pole that Naruto was attached to not so long ago. She mulls over what she found out, during the brief glimpse of Obito that she had gotten. He did not dodge her shuriken, instead letting it pass through him; if what she thinks is correct and it is an ability granted to him by the mangekyo sharingan, then she should have no problem with hitting him. He seems to have it as his default defense, and her immunity to the sharingan will be a nasty surprise for him.

Because, the biggest danger to a technique is becoming over reliant on it.

.

Sakura feels anger more fiercely now than she did in the past. It may be a side effect of knowing how vulnerable her family is, and her need to protect them. It may be her failure to do so in the past. No matter the cause, it still burns more than it ever did in her past life.

She wants to make sure that neither of her brothers are forced to bear the weight of the lives she remembers seeing, remembers living.

 _(She sits on a dust covered throne, body degrading and eyesight too blurred to make out the details of her little brother. Vaguely, she wonders how much he has grown. The thought is drowned out by his declaration of her impending death._

 _She is not afraid to die. With all of the people that have fallen in her wake, she deserves many more deaths than this.)_

.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto fidgets a bit. He is leaning in the pole next to hers, staring up at her. She jumps down so as to be on equal footing with him. The boy is nervous, she can tell. "What was it like when you were Itachi?"

"Have you ever waited in an empty room for an appointment that you do not want to go to?" In the second it takes Sakura to blink, she feels arms wrap around her. Slowly, as if afraid to break something precious, she brings her own up to hug Naruto back. "…Thank you."

.

"I remember being here, that night. Danzo is gone, so you are the last of the massacreists." There is no response, but that does not deter her from speaking. "You have no right to blame her death on Kakashi; it was not his fault." Still nothing.

Sakura takes a deep breath, and speaks loud and clear. Her words are cruel, but they are meant to cut.

"She would hate what you have become, would she not, Obito?"

* * *

ALSO:

He stares at the food in front of him. It is so much different than the protein filled meals that Lord Danzo served. Something about the smell reminds him of laughter.

"It's your favorite." The old woman stands in the doorway, holding the glass of water she had filled. "You would always beg me to make it."

He remembers something, and it feels warm in his chest. Not warm, like the fast rhythm that a battle brings about, but a strange and comforting feeling.

Something automatic happens to his face, and he does not know what it is. It feels right though, so he allows the corners of his mouth to twitch up.

"Thank you, baa-sama."


	43. Three Hermits vs One Lost Boy

"Looks like it's our cue to move." Orochimaru gets up from his position on the floor, his black hair swaying with the motion. He dusts himself off, even though he does not need to, and nudges Jiraiya just a bit too hard with his foot. "Come on, you oaf."

The lump of white hair moves, revealing a face and body. "Huh?" Then there is the sound of a crash, and through the window a tree exploding from the ground is seen. "Ah shit, what'd you do this time?"

"It wasn't me!"

.

From her desk, Tsunade can see the whole village. She is sure that there was not a huge tree growing in the Uchiha district a few minutes ago. A long suffering sigh escapes her lips, and she plucks the Hokage's hat from the rack it is hanging off of. Might as well look patriotic when she's kicking ass.

She barely looks at the secretary, breezing past with a bark of commands.

"Hold my appointments, and put the village on lockdown! I'm off to fix some shit!"

.

 _Provoke enemy, make rage cloud his judgement. Send clone to test if immunity is only by contact, or if he can be hit by chakra infused clone's body._

.

"I'm doing this all for her!" A spear of wood pierces Sakura's chest, and the clone breaks into dozens of crows. "I _loved_ her!" It reforms, and whispers into his ear. Obito shivers, feeling the cold breath hit his skin.

"You know nothing of love, not anymore." The girl smiles, and it is one of pity and it makes him _seethe_. "The Obito-nii I knew was twice the man you are now." He spits fire at its face. It once again reforms, and tries to punch him in the face. His smirk is wiped off of his face when the fist connects, knocking him back.

.

 _Immunity extends to clones; use them for close combat. Mokuton will be hard to dodge, stay out of range. Psychological damage and genjutsu, wait for him to be distracted._

 _Strike._

.

It is not a hard hit, but the fact that it actually lands is enough of a surprise that it knocks him back a bit. He has no idea who this bitch is, but her use of crows and manner of speech are reminiscent of a boy he knows is somewhere in this village.

"I was _weak_. This reality means nothing to me; I will make a new one with my own power." Obito is going to burn this whole fucking forest down, if it means finding the pink menace. "One where she never died!" Trees sprout from his footsteps, and they burn brightly with fire that is edging closer to the natural treeline.

The girl appears in front of him, and he stabs carelessly into her chest.

((The scene is a mirror of the one that tore his whole world apart. Instead of Kakashi's, it is his arm that is driven through Rin's chest.

A hand gently removes his mask, and he can see the girl who he thought had died. Something in him screams that she did and that he needs to get away, but it is muffled under the emotions that he feels. Besides, there are no Uchiha nearby, so this cannot be a genjutsu; only somebody with eyes as red as his are able to cast one on him.

"Rin…"

Her hand strokes his cheek, and he leans into the touch. She smiles, but not in happiness. Lips press to his empty socket, and he can feel the words on his eyelid when she speaks. "Just because I'm no longer here does not mean I have stopped existing, stopped watching over you."))

The hand that caresses his marred face shoots like a whip, tugging out his eyeball before he can fully comprehend it. The last thing Obito sees is green, jade and sharp and in perfect contrast with the red of the sharingan. At least it is not Rin that rips away his sight. "Do not think that you can disrespect the dead by ignoring their sacrifices in favor of illusions, of _lies_."

Dozens of crows fly away, and it is impossible to tell which has Obito's eye hidden in its beak.

.

Obito is fucking furious. He should have known from the moment that her punch even landed that something was off about her abilities. Only a sharingan user can put another sharingan user under a genjutsu, for the most part. While he has no idea why, Itachi must somehow be behind this; it is obvious from the actions that the girl took and the crows she used.

He may not have access to his kamui dimension, but he can still burn the village to the ground. Living tinder shoots from the ground all around him, and flames spew from his mouth.

Then, because he is not stupid enough to wait for others to come and capture him, he runs.

Obito runs. He may be blind, but he is a shinobi and a pretty good sensor. He dodges civilians and shinobi alike, and he knows that he will not get away through conventional methods. Although he would not usually do this, he heads towards the center of town. It is where his only chance of escape lay.

.

Orochimaru is fascinated by how this boy has managed to get the mokuton implanted into him so long after birth and survive. Although, his lack of abilities without the sharingan is disappointing.

This is exactly why he wanted to learn all of the ninjutsu ever created. He wanted a sharingan to obtain a diverse skillset, not a crutch.

He will try not to damage this kid too much, just in case Itachi decides to let him run some tests. She will most likely not even allow him within five hundred feet of the boy that her precious taichou cares so much about, but it is worth asking. He would do it himself, but a feeling in his gut tells him that he would be alone again if he tried.

Orochimaru realizes that he does not want to be alone again, just as he stands in front of the Uchiha with his teammates - _friends?_ \- by his side. It does not scare him as much as he would expect.

.

Jiraiya is confident that the toads he left on the scene will be able to take care of the fire, and he is already prepared in case this Obito kid decides to go apeshit again.

He sees snakes slithering around, ready to shield with their diamond hard scales in the blink of an eye. He sees toads with weapons out and on edge, waiting to attack. He sees slugs, saturating the air with thick chakra that can be made to heal any injuries they may sustain.

For the first time in a long time, Jiraiya looks at the team he remembers.

.

Tsunade sees her two teammates come to the realization that no amount of stubborn denial will change their past, nor will it change how well they work together. They are The Legendary Three, The Legendary _Sannin_ , after all.

She, once again, comes to the conclusion that her boys are idiots. After they beat the shit out of this kid having a tantrum, she is dragging them down to an expensive bar and showing them how to _really_ get drunk.

.

There is fire and water and trees sprouting from the crumbling cobblestones on the street. It is dangerous and beautiful to watch, and nobody notices soon enough when a stray volley of, what look like, wooden senbon come hurtling towards them.

The school children shriek as the sharpened branches come ever closer, but it is all stopped when something _big_ wraps around them and the weapons fall uselessly to the ground.

The snake unfurls itself, but does not move away from the vulnerable kids. Whenever a sharp, pointy object comes flying by, it flicks the offending weapon away with its tail.

.

Iruka nearly has a heart attack, but does not object to the snake so long as it continues to protect the Academy and those that are taught inside.

.

Obito's plan of grabbing a random kid, hoping it's the offspring of someone influential, and using it as a hostage are crumbling.

There is thick chakra everywhere, and he keeps having to dodge weapons and jutsu that are being flung at him. His reliance on his sharingan's power is really starting to show, what with how narrowly some strikes miss him.

Somewhere in the chaos a small snake must have slithered into his robes, because he feels the pinch of small fangs digging into his flesh right before he blacks out.

His last conscious thoughts are of how he hated the arrogance of his clan, yet it is exactly that which brought him down.

Small arms wrap around him before his head can smash into the ground.


	44. Visiting Hours

Kakashi is looking through a box of items that had been hidden in his closet for years, until last week. He does not look up when he feels the chakra signature of another in his room. Quiet footsteps, which are actually quite loud by shinobi standards, approach him. They stop, and no words are said for a long while.

"I am so sorry, taichou." Sakura starts approaching him again, settling next to him. "It was not right to force such a story from you."

He shakes his head. The look on his student's face is ridden with intense guilt. Secrets are sacred to their society, and disclosure is so very personal. Kakashi knows that he could be mad at her and nobody would fault him, but he isn't. "Maa, it was what got him in the end, right?" His eye smile is strained, but sincere.

Sakura examines what she can see of his face, and palms glinting kunai in her hands. It does not alarm him, because she has a habit of doing that no matter where she is. As long as she is with company she trusts.

"But you should not have had to. I do not know any way to repay you telling me your story, except to tell you my own." Kakashi nods silently, and Sakura continues.

.

Kakashi is not a very physically demonstrative man, preferring to keep things limited to a pat on the head, but he cannot help but pull Sakura into his arms and press her face into his chest. He does not know if she is crying, but her breathing gets heavy and then evens out. "Taichou…Thank you."

.

Obito wakes up to darkness. It's the all consuming kind; the kind where no matter how he moves his sunken eyelids, he cannot see. He writhes around, but finds his body unresponsive.

"You're going to be under that paralytic until I can reverse engineer the mokuton cells out of you. If we didn't have a Senju on hand, we would be forced to cut off a lot of your body."

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Obito snarls at the voice he recognizes from the fight and from brief interactions that they had in the Akatsuki. The man was always experimenting and a general creep. The only response he gets is a chuckle, heavy and dark yet somehow close to carefree.

"Certainly, but I do not wish to face Itachi's wrath. She can be quite fierce once angered, as you have experienced firsthand." Orochimaru pats his head in a way that makes Obito want to snap at it, but he will not reduce himself to such doglike behavior. "I will go tell the others you have woken up. We had to kick the Hatake out so he wouldn't waste away by your bedside."

There is a swish of cloth and the sound of a door opening and closing before he can even ask for an explanation of what the hell he just heard.

.

Kakashi does not know what exactly to do. He feels guilt, he feels betrayal, he feels so much and it is so much worse to be presented with the flesh rather than an idea. The face is older, wearier, and hardened, but recognizable all the same. It is not like looking at a ghost.

Clenched in his hand is a scroll, and it contains the other half to his sharingan eye.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The voice is deeper than he remembers, but it is familiar enough that he can imagine how the vocal cords evolved over time. "I don't want to fucking talk to you."

Kakashi does not know what to say. There really is nothing he can say, nothing that he knows of anyway. He still decides to talk, to tell Obito what he missed. "They said I could choose to let you live or die. That it was my right." The lack of response spurs his words further. "It's not. Not my right, that is."

He palms the scroll in his hands, rolling it around. It is strange, having a part of Obito sealed inside of the paper. While his sharingan is also Obito's, it was given freely as a gift; this one was ripped out of his skull with small hands.

It is silent, save for the sound of equipment. He wants to shake the man's shoulders, ask why he did all of this shit, why he never came home. There is also a part of him that wants to embrace the man and forgive him for everything. It is not a pleasant combination of thoughts, and the conflicting feelings pain him.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi sets something down on a table beside the hospital bed. The door clicks behind him.

.

Sakura is angry, but she knows to tamp down that anger. She does so gently, so as not to accidentally ignite the explosives in her mind. For all that she is enraged though, she is more disappointed. "Obito-nii."

"Why are you calling me that? I was dead before you were born." The cool and collected façade over a fire, hungry for anything it can blame, is all too familiar. She felt the same things from the man when he killed her teammates, helped her kill their own kin.

The fact that, in some ways, she is older than him comes to her mind.

"You were one of the few I truly admired in the clan, you know." She remembers how he used to pat her head and spazz out instead of help her train. He always said that she needed to be a kid before she became a shinobi. Despite her father's disapproval, she would still meet with him and take the candies he slipped her. "I was a prodigy, yet I felt that you were always one step ahead of me. I did not mind."

( _It was war, but Obito-nii always managed to come back with sweets and a smile. "Don't worry!" He gave her a thumbs up, and his goggles tipped over one of his eyes. "I'll be back, and I can tell you 'bout all the badass stuff I did!"_

 _The last time she sees him, he is adjusting his goggles and smiling brightly enough to rival any fire that she will ever spit._ )

.

He has no idea what this kid is talking about. During his brief glances at her during battle, he saw nothing that would indicate she was even distantly related to the Uchiha. Not to mention, she is too young to have met him, let alone remember him.

Prodigy. The only prodigy he remembers is Itachi. He must be involved in this somehow.

He hears her pick up something from his bedside table. "Ah, Kakashi-taichou left you a box of Pocky." She sounds impressed, but he has no idea what the significance of it could be.

.

"Obito-nii."

This time the voice who says it is deep. It is quiet, but he does not think he has ever heard Itachi yell. He turns his head to the boy, more out of habit than acknowledgement, and snarls. Most would flinch at least, but the sudden warmth from his side is body heat and he knows Itachi has actually moved closer.

"How." It is a demand, not a question. Obito keeps his voice cold and even. "How did you manage to get past my eye, and who's the girl?" He hears a nervous cough, a click of a container being opened, and the rattle of pills. His younger relative must have finally gotten something for that disease of his.

"Ah, it was aniki. I had to protect Sasuke and make sure he did not do anything foolish while she fought you." There is affection in the voice, something that Obito has not heard from Itachi before.

The strange pink haired girl is not related to the Uchiha. Nor is she older than Itachi. Aniki is a strange way to refer to her. From the brief interaction he did get the impression that she was wide beyond her years, but it is still strange.

"She's not your older brother."

"There are some who would agree with you, but I am not one of them." There is a pause, and Obito can hear his guest fiddle with the box on his table. "Ah, so you were offered Pocky."

Itachi leaves with no trace of ever being there.

.

The next time Kakashi comes, all he does is say he's sorry. Then, he just sits there.

Before he leaves, Obito talks to him without rage tinting his words for the first time.

"Hand me the Pocky and tell me why everybody's so damn impressed about it."


	45. Always

"Why are all these- these _children_ surrounding me?" Orochimaru is not-at-all-hiding behind his teammates. Small creatures, that may someday grow up to be competent shinobi, surround the trio. One even tried to touch his _hair_. With its sticky hands. The seals on his skin ensure that he will not be able to do anything close to a jutsu, unless allowed by Tsunade or Jiraiya. Somehow, a child assumes that the ink-prisons are 'super pretty pictures'. He would hiss at them, but the younglings think it's cool.

The sensible parents are shooing them away. Sure, they're glaring at him in a way that makes him want to dissect them, but at least they are not _children_.

"But toads are so much cooler!" Orochimaru can hear Jiraiya arguing with a little girl, and losing the battle.

"But the snake-man saved me and the boy I like!" Well, at least there are some positives to his sudden fame.

.

Obito cannot feel the ink on his skin, but he can feel the power of it all the way to his bones. They are powerful but not powerful enough to suppress the mokuton. That does not matter anymore though because, through a series of operations that he was unconscious for most of, every single cell has been ripped out of him and broken down to its barest elements.

He is like a toy that has all of its stuffing ripped out and put back again, but not as good as before. It is a naked feeling.

He is nothing more than human now, and it scares him.

.

"Obito. You have no idea what it is like to be dead."

He laughs at the irony. Of all the things he has experience with, being dead may be the one he knows about the best. Under that rock, seeing Rin die, having his last chance of peace being ripped away… He has died many times.

"I died with Rin. I could have brought my heart back, I could have _felt alive again_."

"No. You have never been truly dead."

Obito does not expect the voice to be as biting as it is. She was not exactly kind to him before, but never did she have that mixture of sadness and rage that he knows all too well.

"Heh. Then tell me exactly how it fucking feels." He says this without expecting an answer. Certainly not one like she gives.

.

"It is not bad, per say. It is more forgiving than life, as long as you forgive yourself." Sakura remembers how much she hated herself when she looked down at what Sasuke was doing in her name. In a way, the evil that brought her back was also her absolution. She got to say goodbye. Rin will not get that chance. "Watching as your loved ones destroy each other, and themselves in the process, makes it so hard to rest peacefully."

She can see Obito wince at that. Then, he scowls, as if he is certain that she is lying. She is not, but she understands how one would think that; it does sound a bit fantastical to know what actual death is like.

Sakura does not know if she even wants to try and reason with him. A half eaten box of Pocky lies on his bedside table, and she picks it up. She lays it in Obito's palm, and he grips it before the snack falls. Maybe there is hope for him.

"If you are not going to do this for yourself or Kakashi, do it for her."

The door closes before he can respond to her words.

.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" He gets no answer.

Obito is being led by Kakashi. The man's hand is wrapped around his wrist, although the seals that have been placed on him are more effective in keeping him restrained. Somehow, he knows that this is more for the man leading him than anything else.

Eventually road turns to dirt and grass. They make a few turns before Kakashi comes to a sudden stop. Obito almost crashes into him. Too busy cussing at him, he does not notice the hand being removed from his wrist until it is around his hand.

"What the fu-" He stops in the middle of his yell. Kakashi holds his hand against cool stone and brushes it over the indents. His fingertips feel their names; Rin's, Minato-sensei's, and his own.

Below his palm is the cold memorial of the dead, and above is the warm and calloused hand of a man who is still alive. Obito thinks that there is some symbolism here, but he does not bother trying to sort it out.

"Uh, well. I visit every day, and I thought I may as well bring you along. It's… soothing to talk to people who'll listen."

Even though it is a jilted and awkward explanation, it makes him understand a little bit more about Kakashi. Maybe someday he will forgive him fully, and maybe he won't. Either way, this is a step closer.

.

"Mr. Tuna! Your sword is licking me!"

Kisame sprints towards the voice and prays that Fishcake isn't dead. So many people would be after his ass if the boy got killed while under his watch. He does not want to have to deal with several S-rank shinobi along with those _Ichiraku_. Those two are terrifying.

He turns so fast that he almost falls, and he rushes into the side room. Hopefully he will be able to salvage most of the body from Samehada. He hears a crunching noise. _Shit!_

He body tackles the sword and misses, landing on his face and sliding against the wooden floor. It is thankfully clean.

"Oi, Mr. Tuna? Are you alright?" Fish cake is sitting there with all of his body parts. He smiles and waves with one hand while the other is petting Samehada. Sitting on his lap is a bowl of…

"What the hell are you feeding my sword?"

"It's a Team Seven special that I made! Tomato and Pocky flavored ramen!" Then, he takes a big bite and smiles. Either this child is a great actor, or he likes it and something is very wrong with him.

He decides to battle this crazy with crazy.

"Swords are allergic to too much ramen."

.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke sees two plush dinosaurs sitting next to each other. He knows that he may be considered too old for them, but they were given to him by his brothers; he'll keep them forever.

.

The Uchiha household used to be so empty that it hurt. Sasuke only stayed out of a stubborn denial and a broken heart. Every night he would stare at the blank spaces where family used to be, and turn the sadness into hatred.

The Uchiha household used to be empty, and he couldn't fill in all of that _nothingness_.

It's strange and wonderful now, because somehow this house has become full once again. The people that are here are no replacement for what he has lost, but they don't need to be. Even if his parents no longer live here, it does not mean that he loves this family any less.

"Otouto." A deep voice takes Sasuke from his thoughts. Itachi is there, and he is holding a Konoha hitai-ate. The metal is shining and has no markings, other than the stylized leaf.

Somehow Sakura is suddenly there, and she hugs Itachi while dragging him along too. The group hug sort of grows, and somebody tips over. They all fall to the floor, and he can hear the grumbles of those unwillingly forced into the pile of affection.

It's chaotic and loud almost everyone here is strong enough kill three of him. Almost half of these people are former missing-nin.

Sasuke would not trade them for the world.

.

" _I guess there will be a next time, otouto."_

* * *

ALSO:

The Kage Summit has arrived. Tsunade has heard the humors, but did not know what to believe. When she sees that there are six seats, she knows. She sends a few hand signals to her ANBU companions, and the 'Itachi Duo' as Orochimaru likes to call them, settle into a position with hands by their weapons.

The Otokage arrives not two minutes later, flanked by his own guards. One has grey hair and the other is a dark brunette. Their leader has too much of his a covered to see any distinctive features. When he lowers the hat, he has a smirk on his face. "Remember me?"

Nobody remembers him. "Shino! It's Shino, remember? Team Eight?"

"The one with the dog?" The pink ANBU tilts her head.

"Goddamn it. _This_ is why I left." He gets pats on the back from both of his companions.


End file.
